A motorcycle bomb attack at Kot Lakhpat, Lahore at 4.30pm (12.30 pm GMT) today has killed at least 26 people. The blast has left a further 54 people injured
after the bomb exploded near a police station within a major market.
Senior police officer Haider Ashraf gave a press statement today in which he said that ‘a suicide bomber on a motorcycle targeted officers guarding
a demolition site at Kot Lakhpat’s vegetable market’.
Many policemen are counted among the wounded after the powerful blast tore through people along Ferozepur Road, a main thoroughfare that traverses
through Lahore.
Local hospitals have been put on alert after the government declared a state of emergency.
The bomb exploded in one of the most secure parts of the city, in fact Chief Minister of Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif’s office is only a few hundred metres
away from the detonation site.
BPCA sent two officers to the site of the explosion, Naveed Aziz and Ambar Saroya who offered help to survivors including providing bottles of water.
Whilst talking to the many people in the area we have discovered that a Christian man named Ilyas Masih was amongst those slain by this terrible attack
and we intend to meet with his family to see what help we can offer. During the next few days we will be visiting all the survivors Christian
or Muslim at both Itefaq Hospital and General Hospital based in Lahore and will be offering prayers and counselling. Whilst there a Christian
victim shared a gruesome video he took. Please be warned it is very graphic and you may want to avoid watching this for a number of reasons:
Wilson Chowdhry, Chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association, said:
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. We will offer whatever support and assistance we can to all affected by this latest bomb blast.”
He added:
“In recent bomb attacks Tehreek-e-Taliban-Pakistan under the guise of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar have illustrated a resolve of repeatedly targeting the police and other security personnel. Ostensibly they have moved away from targeting minorities despite that having better public support in an increasingly extremist nation.
“The incident also raises possibilities of renewed targeting of public congregations in which Lahore may become a favoured focal point for future terrorist attacks. This is extremely worrying as Lahore is regarded as a strong base of support for current Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and political party Pakistan Muslim League (N).”
British Pakistani Christian Association have initiated an appeal to help victims of this terrorist attack. You can contribute by clicking (here)
Read update after BPCA met victims and/or their families (click here)
Although no group has yet claimed responsibility for the bomb attack, the attack mirrors one that took place on Mall Road, Lahore on 13th February
2017. On that occasion a protest rally was targeted and police and journalists were killed with protest participants, when a motorcyclist drove
into the crowd of people before detonating an incendiary device. On that occasion Taliban splinter group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar claimed responsibility.
Lahore also suffered a bomb attack on April 5th 2017, when soldiers and census administrators were targeted near a armed vehicle involved in census
data collection. Eight people were killed and 24 injured.
On Easter day 2016, 75 people were killed and over 360 injured after Christians celebrating Easter were also targeted by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar in Gulshan
Park, Lahore.