4 dead and 20 others injured in a car bomb in Lahore, near Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed's residence

Members of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) survey the site after a deadly blast in a residential area in Lahore, Pakistan on Wednesday. (REUTERS PHOTO.)

Four people were killed and 20 others were injured in the short distance from the residence of Hafiz Saeed's founder, Lashkar-e-Taiba, in eastern Pakistan's city of Lahore, including the police and children. Four others were wounded.

Among the wounded were several police officers in control outside the house of Saeed who, after his conviction for being involved in financing terror, currently served a sentence in Kot Lakhpat prison of Lahore.

The bomb was located in the neighborhood of Johar Town, near Saeed's BOR Society apartment. The strong explosion, which blew out the windows of the next structure and impacted many automobiles, seriously destroyed a building. Saeed's house was damaged on the windows and walls, too.

"As for the house of a high-value target, you would have seen a picket by the [police], and the car wouldn't be able to get near it simply because of the picket," Police Chief Inam Ghani of the Punjab Province told reporters at the site when they asked if the explosion was directed at the house of Saeed in any way.

"The automobile could have gone anywhere had it not been a picket. You should realize that because of the police presence, they could not get to any objective. Our opinion is that the goal was the police and that the law enforcement organizations wanted to be undermined."

Ghani remarked that if there was no police presence next to Saeed's House, "big losses" could have occurred.

No claims were made for the explosive, and Ghani said officials tried to see if the car bomb was set or detonated remotely by a suicide attacker.

Three deaths were confirmed by Ghani and then a four-year-old youngster succumbed to his wounds. A spokeswoman for Jinnah Hospital reported that several of the people injured, including children, were in severe condition. Many of the wounded have been hit by ball bearings put into the bomb, officials added.

A witness Fahim Ahmad said reporters had burst into the car area near the house and burnt other cars and motorbikes. TV news broadcasts featured images and footage of extensively damaged automobiles and homes, including a building whose walls had crumbled. Shortly after the event, additional police and bomb disposal teams approached the spot.

Saeed's been living in Johar Town for a long time. However, after he was arrested and convicted in a succession of terrorist financing cases last year, he is currently in prison. He was convicted guilty of terrorist funding and sentenced to ten years in prison last November.

Saeed was appointed a UN and US terrorist who gave him a $10,000,000 bounty. The 2008 Mumbai attacks by Lashkar-e-Taiba murdered 166 people, yet Saeed was never accused of carnage.

Chief Usman Buzdar of the province of Punjab asked the chief of police for a report on the occurrence. Sheik Rashid Ahmed, the Chief Secretary and Chief of Policeman of Pakistan also sought a report on the incident. In a tweet, the Punjab government was supported by the federal agencies.

Publish : 2021-06-23 19:55:00

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