Bedian Road blast: Toll reaches eight as another army officer succumbs to injuries

Dunya News

Officer Shamshad Ahmed, who was living in Multan, lost life at hospital in the morning, doctors said

LAHORE (Dunya News) – The death toll in Lahore Bedian Road blast has escalated to eight as another victim belonging to Pakistan army succumbed to injuries today (Tuesday).

Officer Shamshad Ahmed, who was living in Multan, lost life at hospital in the morning, the doctors said.

On April 4, a suicide blast targeting census team occurred outside a van which was standing near Manawala chowk on Bedian Road and killed eight people including four army and one Air Force personnel whereas 14 others sustained severe injuries.

Nearby vehicles and buildings were also damaged as explosive material weighing 8-10kg were used in the explosion.

The report said that the suicide bomber seems to be an Uzbek aged between 18-24 years and exploded himself after arriving at the back side of the van.

Lahore has been on edge since a wave of violent attacks across Pakistan in February killed 130 people and shook citizens emboldened by growing security. The attacks included a bomb blast in the eastern city on February 13 which killed 14 people in an assault claimed by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), a faction of the Taliban.

Ten days later a fresh blast sent panic through the city when it killed eight people, though officials later said it was a gas leak, not an attack as initially feared.

Bedian Road explosion came days after at least 22 people were killed and 57 wounded on March 31, when a car bomb tore through a market in Pakistan’s tribal belt in an attack that was also claimed by JuA.

February’s assaults also included a suicide blast at a Sufi shrine in Sindh province which killed 90 people.