An audacious suicide bombing cum rocket attack on the ISI headquarters in Multan in Pakistan’s southern Punjab killed at least eight people, three of them children, and wounded more than 30, adding to a growing sense of helplessness at the terror that is spreading fast into areas until now thought to be insulated from militant and extremist violence.
Alongside the daily cycle of terror, more and more politicians are joining in the allegations of an Indian hand in the violence in Pakistan.
“Indian hand”
After the twin bombings in Lahore’s Moon Market on Monday night in which the death toll is now over 49, the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), the ruling party in Punjab, said the “news” of Indian involvement in “destabilising” Pakistan had been conveyed to him by Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani.
“India is involved in Balochistan, in tribal areas, and in the Frontier province. On the one hand the world wants us to do more in the war on terror and come out successful. But if India is truly involved in these acts of violence, it is most unfortunate. It is counterproductive,” Mr. Sharif said after visiting the injured from Monday’s blasts in hospital. He said he had taken up the issue with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her visit to Pakistan.
Earlier, his brother and Punjab Minister Shahbaz Sharif said virtually the same thing, adding that “if India thinks it can gain from destabilising Pakistan, it is mistaken.”
Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters in Karachi on Monday that his ministry had handed over the evidence of the alleged Indian involvement in the violent unrest in the country to the Pakistan Foreign Ministry, and said the issue would be taken up forcefully when the composite dialogue process was restarted.
First attack
Tuesday’s attack in Multan was the city’s first brush with terror, although it is located in southern Punjab, a region known as the nursery of jihadist groups alongside its more benevolent traditions of Sufism. The city is home town to Mr. Gilani and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
Police officials said the attackers, two or three in number, drove up to a check point in the Qasim Bela area of the Multan cantonment area shortly after noon. When they were stopped by the security personnel, one of the attackers got out and aimed a rocket in the direction of the ISI building beyond the checkpoint.
The other men in the car blasted their way through the checkpoint by exploding grenades. They are reported to have driven into the ISI office and blew up the car while still seated inside it.
The resulting explosion left a massive crater. At least four of the dead were reported to be security personnel. But the brunt of the attack seems to have been borne by civilians. The attack badly damaged a nearby school. Three children and a woman were among the dead, while most of the injured are also reported to be children and women.
