At least three people were killed on Wednesday after an explosion near a Sufi shrine in Pakistan’s Lahore city, Dawn reported.

At least 15 people were injured in the explosion, which took place near Gate 2 of Data Darbar. Eight of the injured are in critical condition and are being treated at the Mayo Hospital.

The police force in the area was the target of the blast, a report in The Express Tribune said. The injured include several police personnel. Security forces have been deployed in the area and a rescue operation is under way.

Data Darbar is one of the largest shrines in South Asia, Reuters reported, quoting Punjab province police spokesperson Nayab Haider. In 2010, more than 40 people were killed in a suicide blast at the shrine. </s> At least nine people were killed and 25 others injured after a powerful blast outside Pakistan’s famous Sufi shrine Data Darbar in Lahore. According to initial police reports, the explosion took place close to two police vehicles near Gate 2 of Data Darbar. The nature and exact target of the explosion is yet to be ascertained. Rescue operations are underway. The blast comes as the country marks the fasting month of Ramzan.

Data Darbar, located in Pakistan’s Lahore city, is one of the oldest Sufi shrines in South Asia. Considered to be one of the most sacred places in Lahore, the shrine houses the remains of Sufi saint Abul Hassan Ali Hujwiri, commonly known as Data Ganj Baksh. He is said to have lived on the site in the 11th century and was reputed to have miraculous powers.

Data Darbar attracts a lot of visitors to its annual Urs festival. The Urs marks the death anniversary of the Sufi saint.

According to the BBC, the shrine was originally established as a simple grave next to the mosque which Hujwiri had built on the outskirts of Lahore in the 11th century. It was later expanded in the 13th century to commemorate the burial site of Hujwiri after his spiritual powers became popular.

For centuries, the shrine has seen visitors from all religions. Pakistan’s former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is also a frequent visitor to the shrine.

In 2010, two suicide bombers detonated their explosive vests outside the shrine, killing close to 50 people. More than 200 people were injured in the blasts </s> At least two people have been killed in a blast near Lahore’s Data Darbar, the largest Sufi shrine in south Asia, according to Pakistani media reports.

The explosion was reported before 10am on Wednesday morning. Reports said a bomb had targeted a van carrying elite police officers.

It is not clear if the shrine, established in the 11th century, was the intended target and what, if any, damage it had suffered.

Suicide bombers blew themselves up at the mosque in 2010, killing 50 people and injuring at least 200 others. Some Islamic extremists regard minority schools of Islam such as Sufism to be heretical.

More to come </s> At least 9 people have been reported to be dead in an explosion outside a shrine at Pakistan's capital city Lahore on Wednesday (May 8) morning.

According to the reports, more than 24 people have been injured in the blast which took place at the 11th-century Data Darbar shrine in the crowded place of Lahore. One of the largest Sufi shrines in South Asia, Data Darbar was earlier targeted by terror outfit in 2010 leaving 40 dead and injuring several.

Local news channel Geo News said that at least three dead bodies were brought in to Mayo Hospital in Lahore, while 24 others are being treated for injuries. The blast occurred near the entrance gate for female visitors to the shrine. The police are investigating the nature of the blast.

According to the police, the blast was caused by a bomb targeting the security forces guarding the Sufi shrine. Hundreds of pilgrims were present inside the shrine when the blast took place, reports Associated Press.

The emergency and rescue operations team have rushed to the spot. However, a proper number of the casualties and wounded people are unclear as of now. The blasts come at the time when the Muslim community in the country is fasting in the holy month of Ramadan. </s> At least eight people were killed and 25 were injured on Wednesday in a suicide bombing targeting a police patrol close to a popular Sufi Muslim shrine in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore, police said.

Five police officers were among the fatalities in the blast near the Data Darbar Sufi shrine, one of the largest in South Asia. </s> According to the authorities, a bomb that exploded near the Data Darbar Sufi shrine in the city of Lahore has killed at least four people, wounding several others. City police chief Ghazanfar Ali confirmed that police officers have been the primary target of the attack, adding that hundreds of pilgrims were inside and outside the Sufi shrine at the moment of the blast.

Explosion rocks #Lahore on second day of #Ramjan near Data Darbar's Gate No 2, a Sufi Srine. Police van(Elite force) is said to have been the target. Initial reports indicate 5 dead & 19 injured.#Pakistan pic.twitter.com/jOZqh3LIRi — (((Eagle eye))) (@cbinewton) May 8, 2019 </s> LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) - A bomb targeting Pakistani police outside a major Sufi shrine in the city of Lahore on Wednesday killed at least 10 people and wounded more than 20, officials said.

The blast, a day after the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, went off at a police checkpoint near the Data Darbar, one of the largest Muslim shrines in South Asia, which attracts tens of thousands of visitors a year.

“Police was the prime target in this attack. We are collecting forensic evidences to ascertain the nature of the blast,” said Ashfaq Khan, deputy inspector general of police operations in Lahore.

A police spokesman said the death toll rose to 10, six of them civilians and four police, after a police officer died of his wounds. Officials earlier said eight police had died. At least 23 people were wounded.

Muhammad Farooq, a spokesman for the city’s rescue services, said at least seven of the wounded were in critical condition.

Police set up checkpoints on main roads leading to the shrine and hospitals were placed on alert, officials said.

The attack was claimed by the Hizbul Ahrar, a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban, a movement that has been fighting the government for years. In a statement, the group said the attack targeted police and had been timed to avoid civilian casualties.

Ambulances are parked outside a cordoned off area as rescue workers and a bomb disposal team survey the site after a blast in Lahore, Pakistan May 8, 2019. REUERS/Mohsin Raza

“This attack was carried out at a time when there were no civilians near the police,” said Abdul Aziz Yousafzai, a spokesman for the militant group.

Prime Minister Imran Khan issued a statement condemning the attack and asking the provincial government to help the victims.

Sufis, who follow a mystical form of Islam that has been practised in South Asia for centuries, have been regularly attacked by hardline Sunni Muslim militants in the past.

In 2010, two suicide bombers struck the Data Darbar shrine killing 42 people and wounding 175, in an attack officials said was carried out by the Pakistani Taliban.

Militant violence has since declined sharply in Pakistan after a sustained crackdown following the country’s deadliest attack in 2014, which killed more than 150 people, many children, at a school in the western city of Peshawar.

Since an attack in a Lahore park targeting Christians celebrating Easter in 2016 killed more than 70 people, Pakistan’s second largest city has been largely quiet although an attack last year killed nine people.

However, officials warned that Wednesday’s blast showed the need for vigilance during Ramadan.

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“People should remain aware of their surroundings when going to pray,” said a Punjab provincial minister, Mian Aslam.

Police said a general security alert was in force but there had been no specific warning about a threat to the Data Darbar, which protected by heavy layers of security.

The complex contains the shrine of Syed Ali bin-Osman Al-Hajvery, widely known as Data Ganj Bakhsh, an 11th century Sufi preacher originally from Ghazni in what is now Afghanistan. </s> This article is more than 4 months old

This article is more than 4 months old

A suicide bomber has killed at least 10 people and injured 24 outside Lahore’s Data Darbar, the largest Sufi shrine in south Asia, police in the Pakistani city said.

The attack, which has been claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, took place at about 8.45am local time (4.15am GMT) on Wednesday outside the female entrance to the 11th-century shrine, which has been under heavy guard since it was attacked by terrorists in 2010.

The shells of burnt-out vehicles were scattered near the scene of the explosion. The area was quickly flooded with first responders and armed security personnel.

Muhammad Ashfaq, a senior police official, told a press conference that security personnel at the shrine were targeted.

Three police officials, two security guards and five civilians including a child were among the dead, Usman Buzdar, the chief minister of Punjab province, said.



Pakistan launches major crackdown on extremist groups Read more

Hundreds of pilgrims were in and around the shrine when the explosion took place, early in the holy Islamic month of Ramadan. At least 24 people were injured, Ashfaq said.

Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, condemned the attack.

A Pakistani Taliban faction claimed responsibility. “This attack was carried out at a time when there were no civilians near the police,” said Abdul Aziz Yousafzai, spokesman for the Hizbul Ahrar militant group.

The accident and emergency ward at the Mayo hospital in Lahore was crowded after the blast, with the wounded and other people searching for loved ones.

Among them was Azra Bibi, whose son Muhammad Shahid cares for visitors’ shoes – which must be removed before entering the shrine. He has been missing since the blast, she said.

“They are not Muslims,” she said, referring to the attackers. “They even targeted worshippers.”

Suicide bombers blew themselves up at the shrine in 2010, killing 50 people and injuring at least 200. Some Islamic extremists regard minority schools of Islam such as Sufism to be heretical.

Pakistan has cracked down on domestic extremist groups since the 2014 Peshawar school massacre, in which more than 150 people, mostly children, were killed.

Security has since improved but militants can still carry out dramatic attacks. An attack in Lahore in March last year left nine people dead, while a blast targeting Christians celebrating Easter in a park in 2016 killed more than 70 people.

Some analysts have argued that periodic crackdowns on violent extremist groups are inadequate unless the government is also willing to confront Islamic fundamentalists who target religious minorities, and whose support is courted by many political parties. </s> A blast at one of Pakistan's oldest and most popular Sufi shrines killed at least three people and wounded 15 in the eastern city of Lahore Wednesday, state media reported, as the country marks the fasting month of Ramadan.

Police have said they are still investigating the nature of the blast, which occurred near the entrance gate for female visitors to the 11th century Data Darbar shrine, one of the largest Sufi shrines in South Asia, the channel and police said.

The shrine has been targeted previously, in a 2010 suicide attack that killed more than 40 people, and is guarded by heavy security.

Sufi worshippers, who follow a mystical strain of Islam, have frequently been the target of bloody attacks by Islamist terrorists including the Islamic State group in Pakistan.

Terrorist Islamists see visits to Sufi shrines and some rituals at the graves of Muslim saints as un-Islamic.

Police in the eastern city confirmed that a blast had taken place but did not immediately give a toll. PTV aired footage showing damaged vehicles and emergency personnel on the scene.

A local police official, Muhammad Kashif, said the blast may have been "a suicide attack targeting security officials' vehicle".

"We are trying to get more details from the site," he added.

A second police official who spoke on condition of anonymity also said that a security vehicle had been targeted in the blast.

Pakistan's push against extremism was stepped up after the country's deadliest ever attack, an assault on a school in Peshawar in 2014 that left more than 150 people dead -- mostly children.

Since then, security has dramatically improved -- but terrorists retain the ability to carry out dramatic attacks.

Major urban centres such as Lahore, Pakistan's second largest city and the provincial capital of its wealthiest province, Punjab, are not immune.

An attack in Lahore in March last year left nine people dead, while a major blast targeting Christians celebrating Easter in a park in 2016 killed more than 70 people.

Critics have long argued the military and government crackdown does not address the root causes of extremism.

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A blast near the 11th-century Data Darbar Sufi shrine in Lahore, Pakistan, kills at least eleven people, half of them police officers.