A suicide bomber has detonated explosives near a Pakistani paramilitary checkpoint close to the eastern border with India, killing at least 54 people in the deadliest attack to hit the country in several months.
The explosion occurred near the checkpoint at the Wagah border crossing as hundreds of people were returning from a military parade on the outskirts of Lahore, provincial police chief Mushtaq Sukhera said.
Both the Pakistani and the Indian military conduct daily parades and flag-flying ceremonies on their respective sides of the border. The events draw crowds of hundreds, a number that rises to thousands at the weekend.
The death toll was likely to rise because more than 100 people were wounded, with several in critical condition, Mr Sukhera said. He added that police were investigating the bombing, and had intelligence reports in advance that there could be such a blast.
Another Lahore officer, Haider Ashraf, said that some paramilitary troops were among the dead and wounded. The paramilitary forces’ provincial director, Gen Tahir Javed, said three soldiers had died.
Dr Khurram Shahzad, at Ghurki Trust hospital, said that there were 10 women and seven children among the dead, and eight members of one family.
Crying relatives
On Geo News TV, relatives of the dead were filmed crying and beating their chests and heads. “My brothers, my two brothers,” one man wailed. “They both are dead.”
Officers said they did not know what the target of the attack might have been. Gen Javed said the bomb had exploded barely 500 metres away from the checkpoint manned by the paramilitary troops.
Security has been increased in all major Pakistani cities to thwart possible attacks on minority Shia Muslims observing Ashura, a ritual commemorating the death of Imam Hussain, the grandson of the prophet Muhammad.
But Mr Ashraf said there were no Shia processions happening in the area where the bombing took place.
Jamatul Ahrar, a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack. Its spokesman, Ahsanullah Ahsan, said the suicide attack was part of the militants’ war against the government and their attempts to enforce their version of Islamic law in Pakistan.