Pakistan bombing: Wagah suicide attack near India border Skip to main content

Pakistan bombing: Wagah suicide attack near India border

3 November 2014
 
More than 50 people were killed and at least 100 injured in a suicide bombing close to Pakistan's only border crossing with India.

The blast hit near the checkpoint at the Wagah border crossing, near Lahore. 

The Pakistani Taliban said it had carried out the attack, although other militant groups - including Jundullah - also said they were responsible.

At least 15 people were badly injured, and officials said three members of the Pakistani border force had died.

Scattered bodies The Wagah crossing is a high-profile target, with large crowds gathering every day to watch an elaborate flag-lowering ceremony as the border closes.

Mushtaq Sukhera, the Punjab police chief, told the Reuters news agency that the blast had happened when a suicide attacker approached a restaurant after the day's ceremony.

One witness, an intelligence official, said he was sitting in his office when he heard the blast.
"I rushed to the scene and saw scattered bodies, injured men, women and children and smashed cars," the official told Reuters.
Crowds of people after the Wagah bombing (2 November) Crowds of people gathered as the bodies of those killed were laid out after the attack
 
Pakistani opposition politician Imran Khan described the blast as an "act of terror". 

"Shocked and saddened by suicide attack nr Wagah border," the former international cricketer tweeted.
Meanwhile Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the attack as a "dastardly act of terrorism".
India has in the past accused Pakistan of sponsoring jihadi groups in the region.

The two countries, which have fought three wars against each other, have been engaged in a long-running conflict over the region of Kashmir, which both sides claim. 

An Indian security official said the Indian side of the border was not affected by the explosion, Reuters reported.
Pakistan border guards near Wagah (file pic, October 2014) Pakistani border guards patrol the Wagah frontier every day (file picture)
 
Dozens of people use the Wagah crossing to enter India and Pakistan every day, says the BBC's Shumaila Jaffrey in Lahore, as it is the only road crossing between the two countries.
It is also a crucial trade facility, where truck-loads of goods coming from and going to India are loaded and unloaded. 

A large number of people attend the border parade on Sundays, our reporter adds.
Pakistan's government has been engaged in a long-running conflict with the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP.

The TTP announced a month-long ceasefire in March aimed at reviving peace talks with the government. But after the ceasefire ended in April the Pakistani army launched an offensive in the group's heartland in North Waziristan.
Map 
 
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-29871077
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chronology of the Press in Burma

1836 – 1846 * During this period the first English-language newspaper was launched under British-ruled Tenasserim, southern  Burma . The first ethnic Karen-language and Burmese-language newspapers also appear in this period.     March 3, 1836 —The first English-language newspaper,  The Maulmain Chronicle , appears in the city of Moulmein in British-ruled Tenasserim. The paper, first published by a British official named E.A. Blundell, continued up until the 1950s. September 1842 —Tavoy’s  Hsa-tu-gaw  (the  Morning Star ), a monthly publication in the Karen-language of  Sgaw ,  is established by the Baptist mission. It is the first ethnic language newspaper. Circulation reached about three hundred until its publication ceased in 1849. January 1843 —The Baptist mission publishes a monthly newspaper, the Christian  Dhamma  Thadinsa  (the  Religious Herald ), in Moulmein. Supposedly the first Burmese-language newspaper, it continued up until the first year of the second Angl
Post a Comment
Read more

ARSA claims ambush on Myanmar security forces

Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on Sunday claimed responsibility for an ambush on Myanmar security forces that left several wounded in northern Rakhine state, the first attack in weeks in a region gutted by violence. Rakhine was plunged into turmoil last August, when a series of ARSA raids prompted a military backlash so brutal the UN says it likely amounts to ethnic cleansing of the Muslim Rohingya minority. The army campaign sent some 650,000 Rohingya fleeing for Bangladesh, where refugees have given harrowing accounts of rape, murder and arson at the hands of security forces and vigilantes. Myanmar's military, which tightly controls information about Rakhine, denies any abuses and insists the crackdown was a proportionate response to crush the "terrorist" threat. ARSA have launched few attacks in recent months.  But the army reported that "about ten" Rohingya terrorists ambushed a car with hand-made mines and gunfire on Friday morning
Post a Comment
Read more

Thai penis whitening trend raises eyebrows

Image copyright LELUXHOSPITAL Image caption Authorities warn the procedure could be quite painful A supposed trend of penis whitening has captivated Thailand in recent days and left it asking if the country's beauty industry is taking things too far. Skin whitening is nothing new in many Asian countries, where darker skin is often associated with outdoor labour, therefore, being poorer. But even so, when a clip of a clinic's latest intriguing procedure was posted online, it quickly went viral. Thailand's health ministry has since issued a warning over the procedure. The BBC Thai service spoke to one patient who had undergone the treatment, who told them: "I wanted to feel more confident in my swimming briefs". The 30-year-old said his first session of several was two months ago, and he had since seen a definite change in the shade. 'What for?' The original Facebook post from the clinic offering the treatment, which uses lasers to break do
1 comment
Read more