A bomb-blast in Data Darbar shrine, Lahore, targeted at security forces, has killed at least 8 people including five police officials, and left 24 injured
Lahore: As the month of Ramadan has just begun, the country’s oldest and most popular Sufi shrine was subject to attack after an explosion killed at least 8 people and wounded 24 others in Lahore on Wednesday morning. The bomb contained seven kilograms of explosive material.
The blast occurred at the entrance for women visitors to the Data Darbar shrine, one of the biggest Sufi shrines in South Asia.
Police are still investigating the incident.
This is not the first time that the shrine has seen an attack like this. In 2010, an explosion at the Data Darbar killed 40 people. The place has since been heavily guarded by security personnel.
Sufi worshippers have been frequently targeted by the Islamist terrorists, including the Islamic State group in Pakistan. Terrorists consider visits to Sufi shrines and their rituals at the grave of Muslim saints “un-Islamic.”
According to media reports, the blast targeted a police van carrying an elite force of Punjab Police.
DIG operations Lahore Ashfaq Ahmad Khan confirmed that the blast also killed police officials, and that at least 24 people were being treated for injuries.
Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Arif Nawaz said that the police were sure that the blast was targeted at security personnel because the attacker could have caused more damage considering the direction he had taken, but had sought the police car stationed in the area.
The attack comes days after Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan had inaugurated a university to study Sufism in Jhelum district of Punjab province. The institution, known as Al-Qadir University is named after Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani, founder of the Qadiriyya order of Sufism.
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