Data Darbar blast: Nine martyred, 25 injured including elite force personnel

Further investigation into the incident is underway.

LAHORE (Dunya News) – At least nine people, including five elite force personnel, a security guard and three civilians, were martyred and 25 others sustained critical wounds on Wednesday morning in an alleged suicide attack targeting vehicles of police elite force near the entrance gate for female visitors to the 11th-century Data Darbar (shrine) in Lahore.

Meanwhile, Rescue 1122 officials and police officers rushed to the spot along with a heavy convoy of police forces, and began rescue operation and investigation, respectively.

The injured persons were shifted to hospitals, where an emergency has been imposed, for their treatment. Some of the patients are said to be critical. Many wounded persons were shifted to the Mayo Hospital.

According to initial police reports, the explosion took place close to police vehicles near Gate 2 of the shrine. One of the vehicles was completely destroyed.

Hundreds of Muslims were at the Data Darbar as the country marks the holy month of Ramazan.

According to sources, the police’s elite force was made the target of the blast. Police have cordoned off the site of the attack and sealed all entry points to the Data Darbar in the aftermath of the blast. 

A police official, while talking to media said their teams are working on evaluating the incident.

“We will bring assailants to justice,” he said, while vowing to continue crackdown against militants across the province.

“All departments including the Counter Terrorism Department are working. We won’t spare any efforts for the security of the citizens,” he added. The forensic staff has begun collecting evidence from the blast site.

Moreover, Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has strongly condemned the attack, and sought a report from the Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the additional chief secretary of interior. He has also summoned a high-level meeting at the Punjab Safe City Headquarters and cancelled his scheduled visits to Bhakkar, Sargodha and Sheikhupura.

Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has also decried the attack, and sought an immediate report from the concerned authorities, Radio Pakistan reported.

The premier has commiserated with the bereaved families and directed authorities concerned to provide best possible medical treatment to those injured in the blast.

Further investigation into the incident is underway.

The shrine has been targeted previously – a 2010 suicide attack there killed more than 40 people – and is guarded by heavy security.

Sufi worshippers, who follow a mystical strain of Islam, have frequently been the target of bloody attacks in Pakistan by Islamist militants – including the Islamic State group -- who consider Sufi beliefs and rituals at the graves of Muslim saints as heresy.

The Data Darbar complex contains the shrine of Saint Syed Ali bin Osman Al-Hajvery, popularly known as Data Ganj Bakhsh. Originally from Afghanistan, he was one of the most popular Sufi preachers on the subcontinent.