• TIN TỨC
• VIDEO

Pakistan’s heartland city of Lahore is the target of a fresh wave of terror aiming at spreading instability in the country to disturb the government’s policy against terrorism, experts said Friday.

Rescuers carry a body from the blast site in eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on July 2, 2010.

Once again Pakistan became the focus of the world attention on Thursday when three blasts, two of them suicide attacks, killed 43 persons and injured over 180 others in a mostly visited and famous shrine of Hazrat Data Ganj Bakhsh, Data Darbar, in the country’s second biggest city of Lahore, also called heart of the country as it is considered the political capital of Pakistan.

The well-organized back-to-back blasts occurred four minutes apart in different locations, showing that the attacks were carried out after thorough planning.

The first attacker entered the walkthrough gate in the basement, blowing himself and killing several people when security men tried to stop him. People were running in panic in the basement when another attacker successfully crossed the basement and entered the main compound where hundreds of people were busy in praying around the grave of Data Ganj. This blast caused heavy losses.

Not only the method was organized but selection of the target was also well-thought as Data Darbar is a symbol of inspiration for the majority in the country, analysts said. Observers said that it was the first attack of its kind in Punjab, the largest province in eastern Pakistan, in which a famous shrine was targeted.

Political observers said that Punjab in Pakistan has a greater say in government affairs and can influence the country’s policy to a large extent, therefore sometimes dubbed as the country’s political capital.

Regardless of the type of attack it was not the first terrorist attack in Lahore. In May two worship places of a minority group was attacked in the city killing 94 people and injuring more than 100 others. Over 40 people were killed on March 12 in RA Bazaar in the city and four days before on March 8 another attack in the same city had taken place.

Earlier, a police training center was also attacked in Lahore besides attacking the Sri Lankan cricket team.

The fresh wave of violence shifting to Punjab with more intense attacks shows that the anti-Pakistan forces want to force the country to change its policies, analysts said.

Expert on the regional affairs and militancy issues Salim Safi told Xinhua that Punjab is a majority province and has a greater say in Pakistan, so the attacks show that the attackers, maybe Al- Qaeda, Pakistani Taliban or other organization, want to influence the policy of the government as it is hard on militancy now.

Until last year most of the attacks were focused in northwestern Pakistan and Peshawar, the main city in the area. But the trend began to change recently.

"Earlier, Pakistani tribal areas and Afghanistan were attractive for all militant outfits even from Punjab like Lashkar- e-Jhangvi, Jash-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Sipah-e-Sahaba and others. But now the tribal areas are not a safe haven for them due to military operations and attacks. So most of the organizations, especially the Punjab based organizations, shifted to the province and are now creating disturbance for a purpose," Safi said.

A distinctive feature in the fresh wave of violence is that religious activities are targeted, sometimes mosques.

"The elements want instability in the country, therefore, they attack public or crowd places," said Imtiaz Gul, Defence analyst and head of the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS).

Punjab always remained a fertile land, as compared to other provinces in the country, for diverse beliefs. Ahmadis (Qadiyani) are historically based in Lahore, Safi said, adding Barailvi, Shias,Deobandi and other sects have strong routes in the province.

"Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Sipah-e-Sahaba, Sipah-e-Muhammad, Jaish-e- Mohammad and others who involved in sectarianism or militancy are based in Punjab. Some other organizations like the center of Tablighis, headquarters of politico-religious party Jamaat-e- Islami are based in Lahore, all this shows diversity," Safi added.

Analysts maintained that anti-Pakistan foreign hand may be involved in such attacks but they just exploit the situation and not initiator of the hits.