Lahore blast causes 'large number of casualties' (Pakistan)

[IndianaGreen]

Source: MSNBC

Lahore blast causes 'large number of casualties'

Powerful bomb rips buildings apart in eastern Pakistani city; gunfire heard

LAHORE, Pakistan - A powerful bomb exploded in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Wednesday, ripping buildings apart and causing many casualties, according to officials and television footage.

The mid-morning blast occurred at the office of the emergency police service in the main business district of Lahore. The nearby office of Pakistan's main intelligence agency was also badly damaged.

"There is a large number of casualties," local government official Khoro Pervaiz told Pakistan's Dawn news channel.

Sporadic gunfire was heard in the area of the blast, and troops rushed to the scene.

Television footage taken shortly after the blast showed emergency workers carrying at least one body covered by a blanket to an ambulance, and injured bystanders mopping blood from wounds.

Huge blast rocks Pakistani city


Smoke from the blast could be
seen rising above the city

A powerful car bomb outside the main police station in the Pakistani city of Lahore has killed at least seven people and injured 100, police say.

The blast on the Mall Road destroyed a police emergency response building and TV stations are showing a collapsed building and gutted vehicles.

A car driven by a suspected suicide bomber smashed through a barrier and exploded, officials said.

Lahore, Pakistan's second-largest city, saw several bomb attacks recently.

Police commandos were seen arresting a man after the explosion.

The blast was powerful enough to shear walls off buildings in the main business district of Lahore.

Several high-security buildings, including offices of the local police chief and the Inter-Services Intelligence service (ISI) are in the area, and the ISI building was damaged.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8069467.stm

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30953356/

---

[Adsos Letter]

1. The Taliban said they would take their war into pakistan's cities if the army attacked Swat...

Looks like they are making good on their threat.

[sledgehammer]

5. They've taken their war to the cities for a very long time

In the last year or two there have been a large number of attacks in the cities. This is one of the painful costs of this battle.

This is a very similar situation to Sri Lanka, where Tamil attacks on the cities were frequent and devastating.

It needs to be a war till the end. Painful, but a necessary battle.

[InfiniteThoughts]

2. the latest i heard ...

is that the blast might be linked to the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. At least that's what a lot of TV talking heads in India are spewing out at this moment

[ohio2007]

11. You think since many ISI agents died that they will prod Islamabad to "look to the east" ?

perfect tinfoil material to blame India for taking action since Islamabad refuses to dig deep into its own dirty laundry for Mumbai links


:tinfoilhat:

[InfiniteThoughts]

21. might be ...

it might be that the pakistani politician will blame India. But i am seeing a change in attitude - Pakistanis have realized that India is not their enemy. Their enemy lives within their own country. If not for that, India & Pakistan will pretty much kickstart the opening battles of World War III ...

For probably the first time in my life, i want Pakistan to succeed. I want Pakistan to succeed in driving away and eliminate Taliban as a religion & military force. That's the only way there could be a chance of Pak's survival.

[cosmicone]

3. Those who live by terrorism, die by terrorism

Pakistan created this monster and fed it for its own agenda of exporting terror into India ... now they are facing the music. Should I be sympathetic?

[M155Y_A1CH]

7. yeah, those people...

need to get a handle on their government's actions.

Why do they allow such things to be done in their names?

:sarcasm:

[closeupready]

8. "Should I be sympathetic?" Frankly, it would be shocking if you even gave a shit.

Considering it's you who's asking the question.

[ohio2007]

12. "Bubba" thanks you for your support

Feed him and hope his appetite is satisfied by consuming only Pak flesh and blood.

Bubba

Red Mosque Madrassas, Class of '03




Don't tell him what he can't do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_RKPGS2vwM


Laugh while you can......and enjoy the irony of it all
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28khv-BydeY

[closeupready]

14. I know how both of you seem indifferent to hundreds innocent casualties.

No news there. Doesn't seem to matter if these are three-year-old boys, or 80-year-old grandmothers. Strange that you choose this board to post your shit on.

On edit, I see that you aren't even a contributing member of DU. :rofl: Just here to stir things up?

[ohio2007]

16. oh, you are one of those

A wanna be Bubba bride since you approve of how they keep their girls out of school, barefoot,pregnant and sweating over a hot cave fire with the three other sister brides :crazy:

lol

on edit
Nice to see you like to do a little "digging" into certain member profiles when your rose colored view of the real world isn't shared by as many of those paying the "DU dues" annually as you think they should :eyes:
your opinion i$ worth more then other$ right ?

On edit, I see that you aren't even a contributing member of DU

ahhh.
LOL
You are letting your rich rethuglickan side show.

If this forum was the United Nations, You can play the role of the generous United States, rich,abusive and financially powerful

..and the "rest of us" can go whine to the mods about all the harrassing and verbal abusing you are doing to us


That sound about right ?

[IndianaGreen]

19. Basically you are parroting bin Laden's rationale for 9-11

Bin Laden's argument was that since Americans prided themselves in their democratic election of their government, they were therefore responsible for all the bad things their government did in their name.

It is Saudi Arabia that is financing a global network of schools that teach Wahhabism, an ideology noted for its virulent intolerance and anti-Semitism.

[cosmicone]

20. Oh come on

Pakistan is a terrorist state and has become so since Zia ul Haq. Pakistan cannot do anything against India militarily so it founded, financed, armed and trained a variety of terrorist groups to cause bombings and mayhem in India. Now the chickens have come home to roost and they are facing the music.

If Pakistan is serious about preventing this and helping its poor people, it can dismantle its nuclear program, shut down ISI and defund all the terrorist groups while arresting the leaders of those groups. Then it can cut military spending and the size of its armed forces.

The force that has been accumulated to retake Kashmir from India is pretty much impotent to attack India. India is never going to attack Pakistan. So then why the posturing? To blackmail the US into giving more handouts?

Pakistan needs to get over Kashmir and focus on improving its economy, infrastructure and lives of its people as a peaceful nation.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. "about 30 dead, 250 injured"

Gunmen detonated a car bomb near police and intelligence agency offices in Lahore on Wednesday, killing about 30 people and wounding at least 250 in one of Pakistan's deadliest attacks this year, officials said.

At least four men with rifles stepped from the car and opened fire on the intelligence agency building, then set off a massive blast when security guards returned fire, officials said.
...
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the latest bombing. Police said two suspects were detained.
...
The explosion sheared the walls off buildings in a main business district. The ceilings of operating rooms in a nearby hospital collapsed, injuring 20 people. TV footage showed bleeding bystanders and emergency workers carrying the injured toward ambulances. Rescuers rushed to free officers buried in the rubble.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hkiMxbHNH0BqgpWA2ZG6VD6wVTmAD98EFIFG5

[ohio2007]

10. 27 killed, nearly 326 injured; ISI agents, 11 policemen among the dead

...

Witnesses said the attack started midmorning when two gunmen stepped out of a white van – which had pulled up in a narrow street separating the police and ISI buildings – cautioned civilians to take cover, themselves took cover behind concrete barriers protecting the buildings and started firing at security personnel deployed down the street. The driver remained in the van....

snip
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\05\28\story_28-5-2009_pg1_1



Wonder if anybody caught the activity on their camer phone?

[BlueJessamine]

6. At Least 23 Are Killed in Huge Bomb Blast in Pakistan

Source: New York Times

LAHORE, Pakistan — A huge suicide car bomb in one of the busiest districts of Lahore killed at least 23 people and injured almost 300 on Wednesday, officials and rescue workers said, deepening official worries that frail security in this nuclear-armed country may allow militants to strike with impunity.

The explosion occurred near the offices of Lahore’s police chief, which was partially damaged, and of the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, the premier Pakistani spy agency, which may have been the target. Rangers and army soldiers immediately cordoned off the area.

It was the third attack in three months in or near Lahore, the capital of Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province. The bomb left a crater eight feet deep and a vista of flattened concrete and destruction. Dozens of vehicles were crumpled like paper and broken glass filled the street. The dark pink brick building of the Rescue 15 ambulance service collapsed and emergency workers dug through the debris to try to find survivors.

No group immediately took responsibility for the attack, which Pakistani officials said may have been revenge for the Pakistan Army’s campaign against Taliban insurgents in the Swat valley north of the capital, Islamabad. “There is a possibility that this is a retaliatory blast,” said Farahnaz Ispahani, a presidential spokesperson and member of Parliament. “Unfortunately, the public will have to stand very strong and united because we are fighting a very powerful and ideologically driven enemy.”


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/28/world/asia/28pstan.html?em

[ohio2007]

9. but but but....."Suicide attacks are un-Islamic: (Pakistan's) Ulema"

Suicide attacks are un-Islamic: (Pakistan's) Ulema
ISLAMABAD: Leading Ulema of the country declared on Sunday that suicide attacks and beheading of people were ‘un-Islamic’ acts and said that militants in Swat and Fata were pursuing the agenda of Pakistan’s enemies.

.....
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3881861

hey
they said they were going to attack in another direction anyway when many acknowledged they slipped out of Swat

Pakistani Taliban: We'll avoid combat in Swat city

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3892040#3892095

Maybe the kids in Lahore need to be "re taught" their lessons like those in Peshawar

T-shirts, trousers ‘trouble’ Taliban
PESHAWAR: The Taliban in Peshawar are warning people against wearing Western clothes,
http://tinyurl.com/qstyhj

and they wonder why the "people" don't heed their calls to come back to the city?




Four months and one week til the Pak collapse prediction clock rings

Pakistan could collapse within six months: US expert
Source: Times of India

NEW YORK: Pakistan could collapse within six months in the face of the snowballing insurgency, a top expert on guerrilla warfare has said.

.......

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3818603&mesg_id=3818603

Only a matter of time til Islamabad falls asleep on watch

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/05/terror_assault_team.php

[laststeamtrain]

13. AFP: 300 wounded

Suicide attack hits Pakistan's Lahore, 24 dead

by Arif Ali – 38 mins ago

LAHORE, Pakistan (AFP) – A suicide attack flattened a police building in Pakistan's city of Lahore on Wednesday, killing 24 people in a bomb that the government branded revenge for an offensive against the Taliban.

The blast -- the third deadly attack to rock the country's liberal cultural capital in as many months -- points to a widening net of Islamist violence that has killed more than 1,800 people across Pakistan in less than two years.

Three attackers opened fire and threw a grenade before a van packed with explosives blew up outside an emergency response building beside the provincial headquarters of Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, investigators said.

Authorities said more than 300 people were wounded...http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090527/wl_sthasia_afp/pakistanunrestblast_15

[IndianaGreen]

15. Any doubts among DUers that the Taleban is a threat to us all

The Taleban will threaten India if given a chance.

[ohio2007]

17. There are some on this thread that seem to think you should keep your opinion

to yourself unless you have a rose colored glasses view of whats right and wrong in the world......And make monthly contributions to politically correct charities operating on the internet
:sarcasm:


Did you know that if you cover your eyes
evil goes away ?



Gotta be true.


but seriously,

given the chance, Taliban will also threaten "the Stans, Russia,China, Iran,Phillipines,Indonesia....the list can't reach across oceans for a few decades I suspect

Funny how the iron fisted rule of the House of Saud seems unshakeable in all this. Whats their secret? And how long can Egypt remain insulated from the jihad inner struggle ?

[IndianaGreen]

18. Saudi Arabia finances all of those madrasas in Pakistan from which

generations of new Taleban fighters are molded.

Pakistan: Still Schooling Extremists

By Samina Ahmed and Andrew Stroehlein

Sunday, July 17, 2005; Page B07

Although investigations into the terrorist attacks in London are still at an early stage, it is already clear that at least one of the bombers attended a radical Islamic school, or madrasa, in Pakistan. For those in the West who believed President Pervez Musharraf's promises to clean up the militant religious schools, it is time to think again.

Shehzad Tanweer, who police say killed six people and himself on the Circle Line train near Aldgate station on July 7, recently spent as long as four months in a madrasa reportedly run by the avowedly militant group Lashkar-i-Taiba in Lahore, Pakistan. The madrasa and the organization operate freely despite an official ban on their activity since 2002.

Immediately after Sept. 11, 2001, the link between Pakistan's religious education system and international terrorist organizations came under intense scrutiny. Musharraf clearly felt the pressure to be seen as doing something, and in January 2002 he gave a televised speech promising a series of measures to combat extremism by, among other things, bringing all madrasas into the mainstream. Musharraf pledged increased oversight of the religious schools through formal registration, control of their funding and standardization of their curricula.

The world welcomed those promises, but few then checked back to see if they were ever fulfilled. A conventional wisdom developed, especially in the United States, that Musharraf was doing all he could to help fight terrorism -- Musharraf even became something of a media hero, our brave ally in the war on terrorism. The view that all is well with Pakistan has been bolstered most recently by a World Bank-funded report claiming, against other available evidence, that the country's madrasa sector is smaller than previously estimated and suggesting that the religious schools pose no serious threat.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/15/AR2005071501617.html

[Bragi]

23. You are confusing the Taliban with al Qaeda

The Taliban are regional Islamic fundamentalists (in Pakistan and Afghanistan) who have regional ambitions, but no ambitions to rule the world.

Al Qaeda is now (courtesy of U.S foreign policy) a loose global alliance of Islamic extremists who do have (long-term) ambitions to rule the world.

[ohio2007]

24. You thought the Taliban was satisified ruling the Swat valley......well....

You say the Taliban will not share in the dream of a world Caliphate ? Who convinced you that Pakistan is their last territorial demand ?

The Taliban are regional Islamic fundamentalists (in Pakistan and Afghanistan) who have regional ambitions, but no ambitions to rule the world.

Al Qaeda is now (courtesy of U.S foreign policy) a loose global alliance of Islamic extremists who do have (long-term) ambitions to rule the world.

I recall that AQ only wanted to rule "The land of the prophet" but with greed comes unsatisfaction for just settling, for example, The Swat Valley in Pakistan. Like that plan to settle for ruling only Swatt Valley went to the Talibans heads faster then an AK 47 bullet into a peace comittee member.

You already forgot what the citizens of Mumbai mumbled in the middle of the night on that street corner ?
take another listen

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=cca_1227755968
"Taliban"?

[Bragi]

22. American troops cannot solve Pak's crisis

The alignment of the Pak government with US foreign policy and with the US war on "terrorism" is what is undermining moderates and secularists in Pakistan.

Because of Bush, and thanks to those American voters who re-elected him, no secular or moderate forces can gain traction anywhere in South or Central Asia if they are seen to be agents of the U.S. No amount of military force will do the job.

The only way to counter the extremists is if Americans have the guts to admit their mistakes, pull their military out of the region, while quietly giving financial and diplomatic support to moderates and secularists seeking power democratically. All else is futility.

- B

[ohio2007]

25. Audio explaining why Taliban have been executing so many "Spys" in their own land

CIA in Pakistan:
'Microchips are the talk of the town in tribal areas'
Declan Walsh on the technology being used against terrorists in Pakistan

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/audio/2009/jun/01/al-qaida-cia-pakistan
click on the Audio at the above link. It goes indepth into the reasons why the "spys" were found guilty and got their melons lobbed off in the first place



another link;

Mysterious 'chip'

is CIA's latest weapon against al-Qaida targets hiding in Pakistan's tribal belt
• Tribesmen plant devices to guide drone attacks

• Locals shun fighters for fear of becoming targets


The CIA is equipping Pakistani tribesmen with secret electronic transmitters to help target and kill al-Qaida leaders in the north-western tribal belt, in a tactic that could aid Pakistan's army as it takes the battle against extremism to the Taliban heartland.

As the army mops up Taliban resistance in the Swat valley, where a defence official predicted fighting would be over within days, the focus is shifting to Waziristan and the Taliban warlord Baitullah Mehsud.
But a deadly war of wits is already under way in the region, where tribesmen say the US is using advanced technology and old-fashioned cash to target the enemy.

Over the last 18 months the US has launched more than 50 drone attacks, mostly in south and north Waziristan. US officials claim nine of the top 20 al-Qaida figures have been killed.

That success is reportedly in part thanks to the mysterious electronic devices, dubbed "chips" or "pathrai" (the Pashto word for a metal device), which have become a source of fear, intrigue and fascination.

...
snip


According to residents and Taliban propaganda, the CIA pays tribesmen to plant the electronic devices near farmhouses sheltering al-Qaida and Taliban commanders.Hours or days later, a drone, guided by the signal from the chip, destroys the building with a salvo of missiles. "There are body parts everywhere," said Wazir, who witnessed the aftermath of a strike.

Until now the drone strikes were the only threat to militants in Waziristan, where the Pakistani army had, in effect, abandoned the fight.

snip
On 1 January a drone-fired missile killed Usama al-Kimi, a Kenyan militant who orchestrated last year's Marriott hotel bombing in Islamabad, a senior official with Pakistan's ISI spy agency said.


snip

For the tribesmen who plant the microchips and get it wrong, the consequences can be terrible. Last month the Taliban issued a video confession by Habib ur Rehman, 19. "They money was good," he said in a quavering voice, describing how he was paid 20,000 rupees (£166) to drop microchips hidden in a cigarette wrapper at the home of a target. Rehman said his handler promised thousands of pounds if the strike was successful, and protection if he was caught. The end of the video showed Rehman being shot dead with three other alleged spies. Residents say such executions – there have been at least 100 – indicate how much the drone strikes have worried the Taliban.

snip

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/31/cia-drones-tribesmen-taliban-pakistan

Looks like Obama is bribing the locals ( through the CIA ) to rise up against the fundies.




Not only do they fear women but also
anything more technical then AK-47 assult rifle.