100 killed in Pakistan anti-terror sweep

SCORES ARRESTED IN CRACKDOWN AFTER SHRINE BOMBING

P akistani forces said yesterday they had killed at least 100 “terrorists” after 88 people died in an attack claimed by Daesh terror group on a Sufi shrine which stoked fears of a fresh surge in militancy.

Prime minister Nawaz Sharif and army chief of staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa yesterday visited the town of Sehwan in Sindh province where the latest attack took place.

Sharif vowed to eliminate militants “with the full force of the state”.

Pakistan’s military later said operations were in progress across the country. “Over 100 terrorists have been killed since last night,” it said, adding scores had been detained.

The emergence of Daesh and a Taliban resurgence would be a major blow to Pakistan, and the attacks have dented growing optimism over security after a decadelong war on militancy.

Police yesterday cordoned off the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, a 13th century saint, in Sehwan, some 200km northeast of financial hub Karachi.

The centuries-old shrine’s white floor was smeared with blood, scattered with shoes, shawls, and baby bottles.

At 3.30am the shrine’s caretaker stood among the carnage and defiantly rang its bell, a daily ritual that he vowed to continue, telling AFP he will “not bow down to terrorists”.

Pakistani security forces killed dozens of suspected militants yesterday, a day after Daesh claimed a suicide bombing that killed more than 80 worshippers at a Sufi shrine in the latest of a series of attacks across the country.

The bombing at the famed Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine in southern Sindh province was Pakistan’s deadliest attack in two years, killing at least 83 people and underlining the threat of militant groups like the Pakistani Taliban and Daesh.

With authorities facing angry criticism for failing to tighten security before the bomber struck, analysts warned that the wave of violence pointed to a major escalation in militants’ attempts to destabilise the region.

“This is a virtual declaration of war against the state of Pakistan,” said Imtiaz Gul, head of the independent Centre for Research and Security Studies in Islamabad.

With pressure growing for action, Pakistan demanded that neighbouring Afghanistan hand over 76 “terrorists” it said were sheltering over the border.

Escalation in attacks

The bombings over five days have hit all four of Pakistan’s provinces and two major cities, killing around 100 people and shaking a nascent sense that the worst of the country’s militant violence may be in the past.

A series of military operations against insurgent groups operating in Pakistan had encouraged hopes that their leaders were scattered.

“But this has led to a degree of complacency within our civil-military leadership that perhaps they have completely destroyed these elements, or broken their back,” Gul said.

If so, that impression has been shattered by the events of recent days.

At Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, the white marble floor was still marked by blood yesterday, and a pile of abandoned shoes and slippers was heaped in the courtyard, many of them belonging to victims.

Outside, protesters shouted slogans at police, who they said had failed to protect the shrine.“I wish I could have been here and died in the blast last night,” said a devastated Ali Hussain.

He said that local Sufis had asked for better security after a separate bombing this week killed 13 people in the eastern city of Lahore, but added: “No one bothered to secure this India yesterday strongly deplored the terror attack at the shrine of Lal Shabhaz Qalandar. “We strongly deplore the terrorist attack at the shrine of Lal Shabhaz Qalandar yesterday that resulted in the loss of a large number of innocent lives,” External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

Gani flays attack

place”.

Anwer Ali, 25, rushed to the shrine after he heard the explosion, and described seeing dead bodies and chaos as people fled the scene. “There were threats to the shrine. The Taliban had warned that they would attack here, but authorities didn’t take it seriously,” Ali said.

Sindh police chief A.D. Khawaja said the death toll had reached 83 with scores more wounded.

The attacks have once again raised questions over the influence of Daesh in Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation of 190 million people that has tense relations with its neighbours India and Afghanistan. - Reuters

AFP Mourners gather outside the closed gate of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, a day after the attack on the shrine in Sehwan.

AFP Pakistani paramilitary soldiers stop a vehicle at a security check point in Peshawar yesterday, following a bomb attack on a 13th century Sufi shrine.