41 Killed in Deadly Blasts at Shrine in Punjab

Two deadly bomb blasts obliterated the crowd of visitors paying tribute to the Sufi mystic Sakhi Sarwar at the shrine named after him in Dera Ghazai Khan in Punjab province. The blasts took place on Sunday evening (April 3, 2011) and killed 41 people while wounding scores of other, including women and children.

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Not announced for some time after the incident, the police officials later told media that these were suicide bombing attacks made when the police personnel at the shrine tried to stop the bombers from entering the shrine. The number of casualties caused by the blasts continued to go up from 7 dead reported minutes after the blast to over 40 this morning. Over 100 people were injured by the blasts and were taken to the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) for emergency treatment.

While condemnation of the attack has come from key political figures of the country, the incident has yet again placed a big question mark, in blood-red color, over the security arrangements at sensitive sites. A report in the Express Tribune tells that the intelligence agencies had forewarned the Punjab Government against the possible terrorist attack. The police had also been informed of the threat and is said to have ignored the warnings and instructions issued by the home department. However, a third suicide bomber has reportedly been arrested from the crime scene.