Punjab CM says nation will avenge 'cowardly attack' in Lahore
July 25, 2017
LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday that the nation will avenge Monday's cowardly attack at Ferozepur Road.
During a visit to Ittefaq Hospital to monitor the treatment being meted out to victims, Sharif said that innocent civilians and policemen were targeted in the blast.
At present, two injured are in critical condition. Of the total injured, 35 are under treatment at General Hospital, 13 in Jinnah Hospital, five at Ittefaq Hospital and one at Services Hospital.
The Punjab chief minister visited the injured and offered condolences to the distraught families of the victims.
The chief minister expressed solidarity with the victims and directed the medical staff to ensure the best treatment for the injured.
On Tuesday, Lahore woke up in mourning a day after a suicide blast claimed 26 lives and injured at least 57 near Ferozepur area late Monday afternoon, in a renewed wave of terror targeting policemen across the country.
A woman claimed that her son, Azmatullah, has been missing since Monday's blast. She said the mobile phone of her son, a rickshaw driver by profession, is not connecting since the blast occurred.
Investigations are under way as forensic experts continue to gather evidence from the scene, while police have been patrolling the area as the city remains on high alert.
Security officials have also placed blockades at various places surrounding the site; however, Ferozepur Road has now been opened to traffic.
Funeral prayers of the martyred policemen were offered at Kot Lakhpat, and the bodies of the deceased have been handed over to their heirs for burial in their native towns.
A case has been registered under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act and sections 302, 324, 148/149, 4/5 and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code against three people, sources said.
Ferozepur Road links Lahore to Kasur and is a busy thoroughfare. Lahore's Metro Bus also passes through this route while the chief minister's Model Town residence is also situated nearby.
Earlier in April, six people were martyred and 15 others wounded when a suicide bomber targeted a population census team in Lahore's Bedian Road.
In February, a suicide bomber martyred 14 people, including senior police officers, when he blew up close to the Punjab Assembly when hundreds of demonstrators had gathered for a protest.
