Pakistan's Descent into Chaos: Terrorist & Drone Attacks

[Flint]

Guys, lets keep discussions in this thread to a minimum. We have other threads to discuss the situation in Pakistan. This is mainly for updates.

 

[enlightened1]

Twin blasts rock market in Pakistani city of Lahore​

​

Two bomb blasts have ripped through a busy market in the centre of Pakistan's second largest city, Lahore, killing at least 12 people, police say.

The attack, which injured some 90 people, happened at about 2045 local time at the city's Moon Market.

It is feared the toll may rise further as the site of the market is on fire.

The blasts came just hours after a suicide bomber on a rickshaw killed at least seven people in Peshawar when he blew himself up near the courthouse.

In Lahore, emergency vehicles and police officers are at the scene of the blast, where television pictures showed smoke rising and cars burning.

Market blaze

One official said the blasts happened in quick succession and that dozens were injured when the blast struck the market, crammed with shoppers and traders.
"The fire engulfed a building and shops. There were two blasts with an interval of about 30 seconds," senior city police official Shafiq Ahmad told French news agency AFP.

"One was in front of a bank and one was in front of a police station."

The two buildings targeted were about 30m apart - one on the edge of the market and the other at its centre.

The BBC's Aleem Maqbool, in Islamabad, says eyewitnesses say that much of the market remains inaccessible.

Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said the bombs were apparently remote-controlled devices, AP reports.

More than 400 people have been killed during a string of attacks mounted by Islamist militants in recent weeks, as an army offensive targeting the Taliban stronghold in the country's north-west continues.

Close to the country's border with India, Lahore has been hit several times by militants over the past year.

 

[enlightened1]

Lahore twin blasts kill 29, injure 72​

http://www.samaa.tv/News15206-Lahore_twin_blasts_kill_8_injure_60.aspxhttp://www.samaa.tv/News15206-Lahore_twin_blasts_kill_8_injure_60.aspx​

http://www.samaa.tv/News15206-Lahore_twin_blasts_kill_8_injure_60.aspx

By Aimen Mufti and Rai Hasnain

LAHORE: Two blasts killed 29 persons and injured 72 others at the Moon market, Iqbal Town, Lahore Monday.

The blasts happened behind the National Bank where children's toys and clothes are sold. The exact location was the Raheem Departmental store. The site is on fire. Rescue team 1122 has reached there.

Investigative teams have also reached the site, but the nature of the blast is not determined yet.

Law enforcement agencies have cordoned off the area. Electricity of the area has been cut off after the blasts.

Casualties include three children. Several more casualties are feared as the site is generally crowded with children and women.

The fire is enveloping the surrounding buildings. Seventy to seventy-five percent of the fire has been controlled so far. The narrow streets of the area are making it hard to control it more efficiently.

The Jinnah Hospital and Sheikh Zayed Hospital have imposed emergency.

An eye-witness relived the incident and said, "It happened at 8:30 pm. It was so loud and intense that we lost our senses. Everyone started running here and there, squashing each other. Children got trampled on, so did women. There was too much chaos. People got stuck in their shops. We do not even know if they could get out. They may still be inside...maybe burnt alive."

Another eye-witness said, "This place is normally crowded with women and children. Today, the crowd wasnt as large as usual, but the number of people was still very large. When the first blast happened, everyone ran to the other side of the market. Just as they reached there, another blast happened. It was all planned this way."

One more said that the blast doesnt seem like a suicide blast. It may have been done through an installed time device or a remote control.

This is the third terrorist activity in the country today. All three were carried out in the provincial capitals. One blast in Quetta injured 8 persons and one in Peshawar killed 10 Monday. SAMAA

 

[Singh]

At least 45 killed as twin bombs hit Lahore​

LAHORE: Two powerful bomb blasts ripped through the busy Moon Market in Lahore’s Allama Iqbal Town late in the night, claiming at least 45.
The blasts, which took place within a radius of 30 metre, also caused a massive fire in a crowded shopping mall. The blasts knocked out electricity supply.

Monday’s strike was the second terrorist attack in Iqbal Town. On August 13, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the same market, killing nine people, including two children.

Lahore Commissioner Khusro Pervaiz told reporters that the death toll could rise as fire-fighters struggled to put out the blaze to rescue the trapped people till late in the night.

Rescue teams retrieved several charred bodies from the building. A number of the injured people taken to different city hospitals were said to be in a critical condition.

According to police, the first blast took place outside a bank and the other near a police station. People ran for their lives as the two blasts took place within a few seconds at about 8.45pm.

SSP (operations) Chaudhry Shafique Ahmed told Dawn that the first blast had been carried out by a suicide bomber.

The Iqbal Town SP said police had recovered some body parts, including the head and legs of the suspected bomber. He said police had also seized a damaged motorcycle allegedly used for planting a time device.

However, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah and senior officials insisted that the blasts could have been triggered remotely.

The commissioner blamed India for the blasts. But the law minister said that militants from Waziristan were involved.

A number of shops in the market were destroyed and windowpanes of nearby buildings and houses shattered. Dozens of cars and motorcycles were damaged.

Most people falling prey to the bloody attacks were either shopping or dining out at the time of the incident.

The blasts were heard in a radius of a few kilometres. Panic gripped the area and all major markets in the city were closed. Traders announced closure of the market on Tuesday in protest against the incident.

People accused police of not taking effective precautionary measures despite threats that terrorists could target markets in the city.

‘I was passing through the market when the first blast took place outside the MCB Bank, where people were enjoying their food,’ said Mohammad Qaiser, of Sabzazar.

‘Soon after the blast I found at least 10 people lying on the ground with blood and limbs strewn all around,’ he added.

Imran Hussian, a shopkeeper, said, ‘I was outside the shop when a huge blast shook the entire market. A few seconds later, another explosion was heard on the outskirts of the market.’

He said he and other people ran for their lives. ‘When we returned after some time, we saw the injured screaming and crying for pain. A big fire erupted in the market,’ he said.

Meanwhile, police set up pickets across the city and rounded up several suspects for investigation.

DAWN.COM | Pakistan | At least 45 killed as twin bombs hit Lahore

 

[Sridhar]

Peshawar hit by explosion again

Posted: Dec 08, 2009 at 1101 hrs IST

Peshawar A blast occurred yet again in Pakistan's terror-hit Peshawar city on Tuesday though there were no immediate reports of casualties. Television footage showed a plume of smoke rising over the city where 10 people were killed in a suicide attack on Monday.
Geo News channel reported the blast occurred in the Kohar Road area of the city.
A police team was despatched to the area to investigate the incident.
Ten people were killed and nearly 50 injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a court complex in Peshawar yesterday.
The city has borne the brunt of a wave of bombings and suicide attacks that has killed hundreds across Pakistan.

Peshawar hit by explosion again - Express India

 

[bengalraider]

Dozens die in Pakistan blasts​

Bomb blasts tore through two of Pakistan's main cities on Monday killing at least 46 people and wounding more than 100 as the nation struggles to quell a worsening Taliban insurgency.

Firefighters at the scene of two explosions in Lahore Photo: EPA
Two blasts devastated a busy market and engulfed it in flames killing at least 36 people in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, while in the northwest provincial capital of Peshawar a suicide bomber killed 10 people.

Attacks blamed on Islamist militants have surged this year as Pakistan presses military offensives against the Taliban across the northwest, under fierce US pressure to do more to destroy the extremists' strongholds.

The popular Moon Market in the centre of eastern Lahore city was transformed into a scene of flames and rubble as night fell on Monday, when two bombs exploded 30 seconds apart outside a police station and a bank, officials said.

"There were two blasts, at least 36 people were killed," doctor Rizwan Naseer, the head of Lahore's rescue service, told reporters. He put the number of wounded at 95.

Lahore is a city of nearly eight million people, and is increasingly in the Taliban's crosshairs with five previous militant strikes this year killing more than 70 people.

The city of Peshawar in the northwest has borne the brunt of Taliban attacks avenging the operations against them, and was struck again around midday on Monday when a suicide bomber in a rickshaw approached a district courthouse.

The bomber detonated about 13lbs of explosives, killing 10 people including a policeman and wounding 44 others, said Zafar Iqbal, a senior doctor at Peshawar's main Lady Reading hospital.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani swiftly condemned both bombings, deploring "the loss of innocent lives", a statement from his office said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either attack, but a fierce Islamist insurgency has killed more than 2,600 people in attacks mostly blamed on the Taliban in the last two-and-a-half years.

Dozens die in Pakistan blasts - Telegraph

 

[enlightened1]

Casualties feared in Multan twin blasts​

MULTAN: Casualties are feared in the twin blasts in Qasim Bela area of Multan Cantt near a building of a sensitive agency, Geo News reported Tuesday.

Rescue teams including 1122, police and other relief teams arrived on the spot. Police put security cordon around the whole area of blast site.

The injured are being shifted to the nearby hospitals including Nishtar Hospital, Civil Hospital and CMH, where state of emergency has been declared.

According to Geo News correspondent, two bomb blasts occurred where casualties are feared. The blast was so powerful that the windowpanes of the nearby buildings were smashed to pieces.

The media is denied access to the blast site thanks to the sensitivity of the area.

It should be mentioned that the blast occurred in the constituency of Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani.

According to an eyewitness, he was passing from the area when he heard a low-intensity blast followed by a massive explosion, adding the ISI building was more than half damaged as a result of bombings.

 

[enlightened1]

Blast targets intel office in Multan​

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By Asim Tanvir

MULTAN: Nine people, including 2 children, a woman and 4 soldiers, were killed in a suicide blast near a security agency office in Qasim Bella cantonment area, Multan at 12:15 pm Tuesday. Several people have been injured in the incident. This is the fifth blast in last 24 hours in different cities of Pakistan.

Sources told SAMAA that office of an intelligence agency has been targeted. Windows of Army Public School have been smashed. SAMAA learnt that there were intelligence reports about terrorism activity in Multan. Those present at the scene told SAMAA that they heard firing before the bomb explosion.

SAMAA representative reported from the blast scene that torso of the suicide attacker was found from the scene. The age of the attacker is said to be 15 to 17 years. The nature of the explosion cannot be confirmed at the moment. However, the bomb disposal squad has said that 15 to 20 kg explosive material was used in the blast. The location of the body shows that the blast occurred 2-3 meter away from the intelligence office. However, the intelligence agency office was not damaged.

The law enforcement agencies reached on the spot and have cordoned off the area. The emergency has been imposed in CMH and Nishtar Medical hospitals and the injured are being transferred to these hospitals. Medical teams are also present at the blast scene. The security officials have stopped media from covering the blast scene. Choppers are hovering over the blast scene. SAMAA

 

[Singh]

Deadly blast hits near Pakistan's ISI
​

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- A blast hit near a building housing Pakistan's intelligence service, ISI, in the eastern city of Multan on Tuesday, killing at least 12 people and wounding 20 others, police said.
The explosion took place at a security checkpoint, said Jamshed Akram of the city police.
Four soldiers and four children were among the dead, said Dr. Kaleem Ullah of Multan's emergency services.
Pakistan has blamed the violence on Islamic militants who have vowed to avenge a intense military offensive to rout them from their haven along the country's border with Afghanistan.
The nation has come under increasingly frequent attacks. On Monday, a blast at a crowded market in Lahore killed 54 and wounded more than 150 people.
The same day two other bombing attacks -- in Peshawar and Quetta -- killed at least 11 and wounded at least 41.
The attacks came three days after militants armed with guns and grenades stormed a mosque in Rawalpindi frequented by military personnel. At least 36 were killed and 75 wounded.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the mosque bombing, but there were no immediately claims for Monday's attacks.
In an e-mail to CNN about the mosque attack, the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan said: "We reconfirmed it, that the TTP has done it, and will do more which are already planned. We once again mention that we are not against the innocent people and the state of Pakistan but against those officers and ministers who are American by hearts and minds and Pakistani just by faces."

The United States has pressed Pakistan to rout out Taliban militants.
Fighting the war in Afghanistan is "inextricably linked to our partnership with Pakistan," President Barack Obama said Tuesday of U.S. strategy.
"We are in Afghanistan to prevent a cancer from once again spreading through that country," he said in a speech at West Point. "But this same cancer has also taken root in the border region of Pakistan. That is why we need a strategy that works on both sides of the border."
The United States says Pakistan looms large because Taliban and al Qaeda militants operating in Afghanistan also have had a presence in Pakistan's northwestern region near the Afghan border and have threatened the governments and troops in both countries.

Deadly blast hits near Pakistan's ISI - CNN.com

 

[Rage]

This is in reference to the October attacks in Rawalpindi.

Notice how the common publique spits out ad verbatim Zaid Hamid's 'ingenuity':

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0KO1SqF2fw

 

[indian_blues]

Several hurt in blast near Khosa house in DIK
Updated at: 1454 PST, Tuesday, December 15, 2009


DERA GHAZI KHAN: Several people are feared to have been injured in a blast that occurred near a house in central Khosa market area in Dera Ghazi Khan, Geo News quoted police sources Tuesday.

According to initial report, the blast occurred near City Hotel here near the residence of Senior Adviser Zulfiqar Khosa causing great damage to the house of the senior adviser.

No reports regarding the nature of blast could be ascertained as yet. However, the blast was so powerful that it was heard far and wide and damaged the house of Punjab Senior Advisor Zulfiqar Khosa and windowpanes of the nearby buildings were smashed.

The relief teams including ambulances have been dispatched towards the blast site.

Several hurt in blast near Khosa house in DGK - GEO.tv

----------------

15 died says dawn.

 

[enlightened1]

Pakistan market blast 'kills at least 20'​

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8413579.stm​

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8413579.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8413579.stm

At least 20 people have been killed in a bomb attack in a market in central Pakistan, officials say.

About 50 others were wounded in the blast in Dera Ghazi Khan, which badly damaged a number of buildings.

TV footage showed rescuers struggling to reach people trapped in debris. Officials say the target may have been a provincial official, who was unhurt.

Pakistan has recently been hit by a string of attacks which have left hundreds of people dead or injured.

The BBC's Alem Maqbool in Islamabad says Dera Ghazi Khan lies close to the region where Pakistan's army is carrying out an offensive against the Taliban.

The government said that operation has gone well but many Pakistanis fear the militants have simply escaped to neighbouring towns and cities like Dera Ghazi Khan, where they will continue to wreak chaos.

Buildings wrecked

Police believe the blast was caused by a car bomb, the force of which destroyed shops and damaged other buildings.

"There are many people trapped in the rubble after the powerful blast demolished some 10 shops," senior local official Hassan Iqbal told AFP news agency.

He feared the number of casualties could rise.

District health officer Dr Pervez Haider Altaf told AFP a state of emergency had been declared and people were searching for survivors.

"The hospital in the town has been crowded by the people looking for their relatives. Rescue efforts are still going on," he said.

The house of senior provincial government adviser Zulfiqar Khosa was damaged in the blast but he was not among the injured, officials said.

 

[Pintu]

DAWN.COM | Provinces | Blast kills 23 in Dera Ghazi Khan

Blast kills 23 in Dera Ghazi Khan

Tuesday, 15 Dec, 2009

The blast in Dera Ghazi Khan was the latest in a series of suicide and other explosions that
have killed more than 500 people in Pakistan since October. — Photo by AP

DERA GHAZI KHAN: A bomb exploded in Dera Ghazi Khan’s Khosa market on Tuesday, killing 23, including two women and two minors, and injuring at least 60, DawnNews quoted hospital sources as saying.



The blast occurred at a taxi stand near the residence of provincial minister Dost Mohammad Khosa.



The blast in Dera Ghazi Khan was the latest in a series of suicide and other explosions that have killed more than 500 people in Pakistan since October. The bloodshed has been blamed on militants retaliating for an army offensive against the Taliban in the country's northwest.



Local commissioner Hasan Iqbal said Tuesday's explosion appeared to be a car bomb.



It left a massive crater and was heard from a half-a-mile away, he said. The home of Zulfiqar Khosa, senior adviser to the chief minister of Punjab province, was badly damaged in the blast, as were several shops in the market.



‘It is a terrorist activity,’ said Iqbal, who said a dozen wounded people were shifted to hospitals.



Zulfiqar Khosa was not believed to be at the house at the time of the explosion.



'It was a car bomb. A car laden with explosives rammed into the gate of my residence,' Zulfiqar Khosa said.



'Many buildings located in the area have been demolished,' he said.



Raza Khan, a local resident at the scene, said people were panicking.



‘The whole market has collapsed,’ he told The Associated Press by phone. ‘There is smoke and people running here and there.’



Militants have staged several attacks in the eastern Punjab province to illustrate their reach across the country, far beyond the northwest tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.



Several hard-line religious schools operate in Dera Ghazi Khan. The town has also experienced sectarian attacks pitting Sunni and Shia Muslims against each other.



Tags: Dera Ghazi Khan,Dera Ismail Khan,south Punjab

 

[enlightened1]

Blast near Pakistan mosque kills four people​

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8420138.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8420138.stm​

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8420138.stm

At least four people have been killed in an explosion near a mosque used by police officers in north-western Pakistan, officials say.

Nearly 30 people were wounded in the explosion in Lower Dir district, said hospital officials.

The Pakistani army carried out a huge operation in the district earlier this year to flush out Taliban militants.

Tens of thousands of people in the area were displaced by the fighting in the district and adjoining Swat valley.

"The bomb blast took place inside a mosque near police headquarters. At least four people have been killed," local police chief Mumtaz Zarin told AFP news agency.

"We are investigating the nature of the blast - that is, whether it was a suicide attack or planted bomb," he said.

He said the "huge" explosion had struck in Taimergara town in Lower Dir.

The local district commissioner, Fazal Kareem Khatok, said the blast took place as worshippers gathered for Friday prayers.

 

[pankaj nema]

pakistan has been ''captured'' by three powerful forces ,the army, rich elite and the religious forces. And the thing is that they dont want to relinquish their control over the country .

the growing poverty due to the dysfuntional economy will only increase the hold of mullahs and jihadis.

while army will keep playing the India card to retain its hold on power and resources.

the rich elite will keep on fighting each other i.e zardari(PPP) vs nawaz(PML -N) vs
PML-Q vs ANP vs MQM vs Imran khan .this merry-go- round will continue.

the common people will continue to believe that the land of the PURE is under threat from
AMRIKA -HINDOOS- JEWS and all their problems are due to RAW - CIA -MOSSAD

 

[Sridhar]

Suicide bomber kills 2 in Pakistan


2009-12-22 14:43:35
Last Updated: 2009-12-22 14:47:24

A suicide bomber detonated his explosives outside a press club in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, killing two people in the latest of a slew of attacks to strike the city of Peshawar since the military launched a major offensive near the Afghan border.
A policeman tried to search the attacker as he approached the press club's gate, but the man resisted and was able to trigger his explosives, killing the officer and an accountant who worked for the organization, said Peshawar's police chief, Liaquat Ali Khan.
A woman who was at the site of the attack apparently died of cardiac arrest, said Sahib Gul, a doctor at a hospital in Peshawar where the three bodies were brought.
Adil Khan, a local photographer who was inside the press club when the attack occurred, said he heard the police officer at the gate, Muhammad Riaz, trying to force the bomber to submit to a search.

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Most Popular [/FONT]​

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]http://sify.com/news/Snow-White-Christmas-at-the-US-imagegallery-International-jmvmSUcgjea.html[/FONT]"Suddenly a big explosion occurred and smoke made me unable to see immediately what happened," said Khan. "After a while, I saw Riaz and accountant Mian Iqbal lying dead in a pool of blood and there were some scattered body parts."
Seventeen other people were injured in the attack, many of whom were traveling in a bus that passed the press club when the explosion occurred, said Gul.
The blast blew out the press club's windows and slightly damaged the gate and several surrounding buildings.
Peshawar has been hit by at least seven attacks in the past two months in retaliation for a military offensive launched in mid-October against the militant stronghold of South Waziristan in Pakistan's lawless tribal area near the Afghan border. A single attack in late October in a market popular with women and children in Peshawar killed 112 people.
The Peshawar Press Club targeted in Tuesday's attack is a well-known landmark in the city, and many journalists congregate there.
"Journalists have played a vital role in our war by exposing the terrorists, so they are on the target list too like mosques, bazaars and security institutions," said Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the information minister for Northwest Frontier Province, where Peshawar is the capital.
A provincial labor minister was scheduled to hold a press conference at the press club later Tuesday, said the organization's president, Shamim Shahid.
He praised Riaz, the police officer who prevented the bomber from entering the building.
"The policeman averted a major incident by sacrificing his life," said Shahid
Suicide bomber kills 2 in Pakistan

 

[enlightened1]

Four killed in blast on Mall Road in Peshawar​

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/metropolitan/03-blast-near-pia-building-in-peshawar-ss-01​

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/metropolitan/03-blast-near-pia-building-in-peshawar-ss-01http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/metropolitan/03-blast-near-pia-building-in-peshawar-ss-01

PESHAWAR: Two suicide bombers struck near an army and police checkpoint in Pakistan's northwestern Peshawar city Thursday, killing at least four people and wounding about 10 more, officials said.

The blast struck Peshawar's busy Mall Road, home to government offices, banks and private companies, in an army cantonment area.

'Four people were killed and more than 10 injured. Apparently it was a suicide attack,' Sahibzada Mohammad Anis, the top administrative official for Peshawar, told AFP.

Bashir Ahmed Bilour, a senior minister in the provincial government, confirmed the death toll and said the blast was caused by a suicide bomber.

'I can see smoke and injured people lying on the ground,' witness Shahid Khan, who works for a local advertising agency, told AFP by telephone.

The attack came two days after a teenage suicide bomber attacked a Pakistan journalists' club in Peshawar, killing three people in an unprecedented assault on the media.

 

[SSG VIPER]

The policeman sacrificed his life for other.BRAVE SOUL, MAY ALLAH (GOD) bless his soul.AMEEN

 

[Known_Unknown]

The chickens have come home to roost. Yet, the attitude of the Pak army and security establishment remains the same.

 

[SSG VIPER]

The chickens have come home to roost. Yet, the attitude of the Pak army and security establishment remains the same.

The chicken that US ARMED AND TRAINED to kill russians??
About the atitude of ARMY is that losing 2000 policemen and soldiers??????And killing 6000 extremist m....ers maybe ur right.