Pakistanis Tuesday mourned the victims of a Taliban-claimed suicide bomb in Lahore, as the death toll rose to 15 and the city´s residents railed at the government for failing to protect them.
More than 9,000 lawyers of Multan on Tuesday observed strike and boycotted their professional duties in protest against yesterday’s suicide attack in Lahore at thecall of Pakistan Bar Council and Punjab Bar Council . Member of High Court Bar also boycotted the court proceedings However, they appeared in urgent cases at the High Court.Funeral prayer in absentia was offered at District Courts which was led by Syed Athar Shah Bukhari and hundreds of lawyers attended it.The High Court Bar Association and District Bar Association Multan also held general house meetings to pay tributes to the victims of the blast. The bars also passed resolutions condemning the tragic incident. Yesterday, a suicide bomber blew himself up near Punjab Assembly in Lahore, killing 13 people and injuring 106 others. Traders also staged a demonstration to mourn the death of police officers as well as traders during negotiations.Police did not let the Chemists and Druggists take out procession to press the authorities for withdrawal of Drug act-2017 .
The chief minister of Punjab state Shahbaz Sharif declared a day of mourning after Monday´s blast on Lahore´s Mall Road, one of the city´s main arteries, at rush hour during a busy protest.
At least 15 people were killed, emergency official Ahmad Raza told AFP, including six police officers, while up to 87 were injured.
The toll could have been much higher, Raza said, but for two vehicles -- a TV news van and a minivan belonging to the protesters -- which absorbed much of the impact of the blast.
The Pakistani Taliban faction Jamaat-ul-Ahrar claimed responsibility for the assault, which came three days after it announced it would carry out a series of attacks on government installations around the country.
A spokesman for the group warned in a statement that Monday´s bomb was "just the start".
The attack underscored the challenges faced by Pakistan in its push to stamp out militancy, even as security dramatically improved in 2015 and 2016.
Local groups like the umbrella Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) retain the ability to carry out spectacular attacks, despite a military-led crackdown on extremism.
Lahore residents vented their fury at the militants and the government at the blast site early Tuesday.
"They (the militants) have no link with Islam nor do they believe in any religion, the only thing they know is killing people, this is utterly an act of terrorism," Tariq Saleem told AFP.
Nadeem Akhter called on the government to do more to bring the situation under control. "Our children and people are being killed in these attacks," he said.
Both British High Commissioner to Pakistan Thomas Drew and US ambassador David Hale branded the attack "cowardly" in separate statements, expressing support for the victims.
Lahore, the country´s cultural capital, suffered one of Pakistan´s deadliest attacks during 2016 -- a Jamaat-ul-Ahrar suicide bomb in a park last Easter that killed more than 70 including many children.
But such incidents have been rare in the city in recent years.
Shortly after Monday´s attack two members of a bomb disposal team were killed in Quetta, the capital of restive Balochistan province, while trying to defuse a device.
It was not clear if the Quetta bomb was linked to the Lahore attack.
Funeral prayers:
The funeral prayers of the policemen killed in the attack were offered today. Punjab Governor Muhammad Rafique Rajwana, Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif and other senior officials attended the funeral prayers.
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