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| 20 injured in Lahore suicide blast |
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Tuesday, November 03, 2009
By Arshad Dogar
LAHORE: Twenty people including 10 policemen were injured, one of them critically, in a suicide attack, carried out at a police picket close to Babu Sabu Interchange, an entry point to the city at Lahore-Islamabad Motorway, on Monday evening.
Police claimed the suicide attacker, yet to be identified, reached the spot in a Suzuki Mehran car, bearing No LEA-2267-08 at around 6:40 pm. As the security personnel tried to stop him for routine checking, the bomber came out of the car and detonated the suicide jacket, while heading towards the police party, the eyewitnesses and police said.
A police constable, identified as Latif, 25, sustained critical wounds as he was the first who went close to the suicide attacker for checking. He along with four policemen and a civilian were shifted to Mayo Hospital Lahore, while 10 injured persons including six policemen were taken to Services Hospital Lahore and one civilian was rushed to Mian Munshi Hospital. Rescue 1122 provided first aid to three persons with minor injuries on the spot.
The injured policemen were identified as Taimoor Nasir, 23, Liaquat, 33, Zaman Ullah, 33, Saeed, 40, Latif, 25, Nazir, 20, Imran, 21, Ghulam Sarvar, 48 and Amjad, 45. Among the civilian injured were Enayat Bibi, Ghulam Sarwar, Amjad Hussain, Muhammad Saleem, Imran, Zafar Khan, Gul Khan, Nafees and Sarwar.
A Civil Defence official told The News 7 to 10 kilogram explosive material was used in the suicide jacket, which also injured people sitting in six vehicles, stopped at the picket for checking. He said the head of the suicide bomber was found from a distance of 30 yards from the crime scene. He, however, said the face of the attacker was intact and it seemed he was not more than 18 years of age. The attacker was of fair complexion with no beard, he added.
Soon after the attack, policemen, standing at some distance from the picket, resorted to aerial firing, which created further panic among the commuters. About the rounds of fires, fired soon after the blast, Iqbal Town SP Ali Nasir Rizvi said the policemen opened fire at the suicide attacker, considering him a suspect. He claimed that as a result of the police firing, the attacker detonated his suicide jacket.
Ramzan, who was coming from Raiwind in his car, LZC-2547, told this correspondent that his car was behind the white-coloured Suzuki Mehran in which the suicide bomber was travelling. He said he was towing his car behind a pick-up, as his vehicle had run short of fuel. The pick-up driver asked the suicide bomber to let him take a turn towards the City for getting fuel. However, he didn’t respond and sped away towards a police picket, after crossing the Babu Sabu Interchange.
In the meantime, Ramzan said, he heard a big bang and door glasses of his car shattered all around. He claimed the suicide bomber came from Thokar Niaz Baig side. Another eyewitness, Ghulam Shabbir, whose car No HC-725 was moving ahead of the suicide bomber’s car, said as he crossed the police picket, he heard blast sound and found his own car’s panes shattered into pieces, while the backside of his car was totally damaged. Five other vehicles including LZN-357 and L-5829 were also damaged.
Talking to The News, SSP Operations Ch Shafiq Ahmad said the owner of the car No LEA-2267-08, from which the suicide attacker came out and blew himself up, was identified as Talib, a resident of Sabzazar. He added that Malik Ijaz, who was driving that car, was tenant of Talib and he borrowed car to visit his village in Sheikhupura. It is being suspected that on the way back to Lahore, Malik Ijaz gave lift to the suicide attacker, who targeted the policemen at Babu Sabu picket. Malik Ijaz also sustained injuries and he was shifted to Services Hospital. His condition was stated to be critical. Police were of the view that the incident saved the City from a big loss. Shafiq Ahmad had also paid a surprise visit to the said picket on Saturday last and appreciated the performance of policemen for being vigilant.
Soon after the blast, Rescue 1122, Edhi Ambulances, Bomb Disposal Squad and heavy contingent of police reached the spot and started rescue operation. Police cordoned off the area and banned the entry of all kinds of vehicular traffic. Forensic experts collected evidence along with the police investigators. Investigators recovered two canes of milk and a bag of wheat from the car of Malik Ijaz, while the scattered body parts of suicide attacker were also collected from around the scene.
After the blast, the Motorway interchange was closed for every type of traffic and motorists were asked to use alternative routes including Kala Shah Kaku Interchange and Thokar Niaz Beg to enter Lahore. The incident created massive traffic mess in and around the provincial metropolis. Commuters remained stuck on Motorway, Bund Road and Multan Road for more than two hours. Locals of the area also gathered on the spot after hearing the sound of blast and firing. However, they were barred from visiting the crime scene.
Around 25 police personnel were deployed at the picket, which is an important entry point to the city. The police had arrested more than 20 suspected terrorists or their collaborators from the picket during the last three weeks.
After the incident, Inspector General of Police Tariq Saleem Dogar reached Mayo Hospital to inquire about the health of injured police officials. The IG announced Rs2 million for the critically injured Constable Latif on behalf of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. The Punjab CM condemned the attack and praised the policemen for effectively checking a suicide bomber.
The IG said all sorts of medical facilities would be provided to the injured police officials free-of-cost. He said the morale of the Punjab Police was very high despite attacks. The IG further said the police officials have saved the Lahore City from a bid loss by resisting the terrorists at the checkpost.
Ten people including one critically injured as a result of the Babu Sabu blast were treated at the Services Hospital Lahore, out of which four were policemen.
Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Mohammad Javed said Malik Ijaz, a resident of Sabzazar Lahore, suffered multiple injuries in the blast and was being treated in the hospital. The doctors have declared his condition as serious and are keeping him under consistent observation. The injured included two men, Zafar Mohammad and Mohammad Gul from Quetta. Mian Mohammad Navid, from Sanda, Mohammad Saleem from Shahdara and Mohammad Amin from Thokar Niaz Baig were the residents of Lahore injured in the incident. The injured policemen brought for treatment at the Services hospital were Taimoor Talsey, Zaman Ullah, Liaquat Ali and Mohammad Saeed.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
