September 2010 Lahore bombings

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September 2010 Lahore bombings
Pakistan - Punjab - Lahore.svg
The location of Lahore in Pakistan.
Location Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Date1 September 2010
Attack type
Suicide bombings
Weapons suicide belts
Deaths38 [1]
Injured250
Perpetrators Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
Motive Anti-Shi'ism

The September 2010 Lahore bombings were a series of three suicide bombings which occurred on 1 September 2010, in Lahore, Pakistan. [2] [3] Thirty-eight were killed and more than 250 were injured when a Shia procession was targeted. [4] [5]

Contents

Background

Pakistan which has a mostly Sunni population has seen sectarian attacks against minorities including Shias who account for about 20% of Pakistan's population. It is estimated that 4000 people have been killed in religious violence over the last decade. [6] This was the third attack against Lahore's minority communities in 2010: in May two mosques were attacked belonging to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, and in July the Sufi community came under attack. While the government of Pakistan has banned several militant groups many of them have re emerged under different names and critics say that governments reluctance to act against them is encouraging them. [7]

These were the first major attacks in Pakistan since the country was devastated by 2010 Pakistan floods. [6]

Attacks

The blasts targeted a procession by about 35,000 Shia to mark the death anniversary of Ali whom they consider to be their first Imam. [3] The three blasts occurred within 2,000 feet (610 m) of each other. [8] The first explosion happened in the Karbala Gamay Shah area at 6:50 pm local time. This was followed by a second explosion about 25 minutes later in Bhati chowk. The third blast happened in Anarkali Bazaar about 10 minutes after the second explosion. [5] Bodies of three suicide bombers have been recovered according to government sources. [3] Two days later the death toll rose to 38.

Responsibility

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for the bombings. [9]

Aftermath

After the blasts angry mobs attacked police stations and burnt vehicles leading to deployment of Pakistan Rangers to maintain law and order. [5] After the attack the authorities urged people not to hold outdoor religious meetings. [7]

Reaction

Three days of mourning was ordered by the provincial government and all private and public institutions were closed. [5] The attacks were condemned by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani who vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice. [3] The Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif announced compensation of Rs 500,000 for those killed and Rs 75,000 for the injured. [10]

Following another attack in Quetta 2 days later, Interior Minister Rehman Malik told the press that militants want to fan the flames of sectarianism in an effort to destabilise the government followinga series of military offensives against them. He also claimed that Punjabi, such as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and al-Qaida and the Tehrik-e-Taliban are one and the same. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

Sectarian violence in Pakistan refers to violence directed against people and places in Pakistan motivated by antagonism toward the target's religious sect. As many as 4,000 Shia are estimated to have been killed in sectarian attacks in Pakistan between 1987 and 2007, and thousands more Shia have been killed by Salafi extremists from 2008 to 2014, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). Sunni Sufis and Barelvis have also suffered from some sectarian violence, with attacks on religious shrines killing hundreds of worshippers, and some Deobandi leaders assassinated. Pakistan minority religious groups, including Hindus, Ahmadis, and Christians, have "faced unprecedented insecurity and persecution" in at least two recent years, according to Human Rights Watch. One significant aspect of the attacks in Pakistan is that militants often target their victims places of worship during prayers or religious services in order to maximize fatalities and to "emphasize the religious dimensions of their attack".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lashkar-e-Jhangvi</span> Jihadist militant organisation

The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, is a Deobandi supremacist, terrorist and militant organisation based in Afghanistan. The organisation operates in Pakistan and Afghanistan and is an offshoot of anti-Shia party Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP). The LeJ was founded by former SSP activists Riaz Basra, Malik Ishaq, Akram Lahori, and Ghulam Rasool Shah.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">March 2010 Lahore bombings</span> Bombing attacks in Pakistan

The March 2010 Lahore bombings were three separate, but related, bomb attacks in the Pakistani city of Lahore on 8 and 12 March 2010. Lahore, with a population of six million, is Pakistan's second largest city, and the capital of the Punjab province. After several attacks in Lahore in 2009, these were the first major incidents in the city in 2010. The 12 March bombings are the deadliest attacks in Pakistan to date in 2010.

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The July 2010 Lahore bombings occurred on 1 July 2010 in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up at the Sufi shrine, Data Darbar Complex. At least 50 people were killed and 200 others were hurt in the blasts. It was the biggest attack on a Sufi shrine in Pakistan since 2001.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 Rahim Yar Khan bombing</span> Terrorist attack

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Persecution of Hazaras in Quetta</span> Persecution in Pakistan since the 1990s

The persecution of Hazaras in Quetta, is a series of ethnic or religious motivated attacks on Hazaras in Quetta, Pakistan.

This is a list of terrorist incidents in Pakistan in 2013. Some of the incidents are sectarian in nature and the TTP is responsible for a majority of them.

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On 16 February 2013, at least 91 people were killed and 190 injured after a bomb hidden in a water tank exploded at a market in Hazara Town on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital city of Balochistan, Pakistan. Most of the victims were members of the predominantly Shia Twelver ethnic Hazara community, and authorities expected the death toll to rise due to the large number of serious injuries. The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi group claimed responsibility for the blast, the second major attack against the Shia Hazaras in a month.

Events in the year 2014 in Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malik Ishaq</span> Pakistani militant leader (1959–2015)

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References

  1. http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/south-asia/toll-in-lahore-bombings-rises-to-38_100421988.html
  2. Gillani, Waqar (1 September 2010). "Suicide Bombers in Pakistan Kill Dozens of Shiites". The New York Times . Retrieved 2 September 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Triple bomb blasts hit Lahore Shia procession". BBC. 1 September 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2010.
  4. "Multiple blasts in Lahore; 35 killed, 250 injured". NDTV . Retrieved 2 September 2010.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Blasts lead to protest in Lahore, troops deployed to control situation". Xinhua News Agency. 1 September 2010. Archived from the original on 5 September 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2010.
  6. 1 2 Hussain, Waqar (1 September 2010). "Suicide blasts in Lahore kill 25, injure 180". Agence France-Presse. Archived from the original on 4 September 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2010.
  7. 1 2 "Pakistani Officials Caution Against Large Outdoor Religious Ceremonies". Voice of America. 2 September 2010. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
  8. "Blasts rock Lahore; at least 28 dead". CNN. 2 September 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2010.
  9. "Lahore triple blasts leave 29 dead, over 200 injured". The News International . 1 September 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2010.
  10. "Triple terror blasts in Lahore leave 27 dead". Dawn. 2 September 2010. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
  11. "Pakistani Flooding Impacts Fight Against Militants". 3 September 2010.