2011 Dera Ghazi Khan bombings

Last updated

3 April 2011 Dera Ghazi Khan bombing
Location Dera Ghazi Khan District, Punjab, Pakistan
Coordinates 29°59′11″N70°18′09″E / 29.98630°N 70.30245°E / 29.98630; 70.30245 Coordinates: 29°59′11″N70°18′09″E / 29.98630°N 70.30245°E / 29.98630; 70.30245
Date3 April 2011 (2011-04-03)
5pm (PKT)
Attack type
 Suicide bombing
Deaths50+ [1]
Injured120+
No. of participants
2 bombers, another one arrested [2]

A pair of bombings occurred on 3 April 2011 in a Sufi shrine dedicated to a 13th-century Sufi saint, Ahmed Sultan, located near the city of Dera Ghazi Khan in the southern region of Pakistan's largest province, Punjab. [1]

Contents

Background

Sufism is a Muslim culture that has thrived in the Indian subcontinent and involves the belief that one can feel a linked connection with God through spirituality. In Pakistan, the Punjab region has been a historical hub of Sufi culture. Sufism and Sufi traditions are regarded as heretical by hard-line Islamists. In Sufi shrines devotees pray to saints while singing and dancing and this is considered un-Islamic by the Taliban. Several Sufi shrines in Pakistan have been targeted in the past by the Taliban. [3]

Attack

The attack was a double suicide bombing that left more than 50 people dead, as well as 120 wounded. [1] The bombings occurred while thousands of devotees were gathered for the annual Urs celebrations at the shrine. Urs are an integral part of South Asian Muslim culture and are held to mark the death anniversary of a Sufi. At around 5 pm PST, a teenaged bomber detonated his explosives while devotees were performing a mystical devotional dance at the main entrance to the building. Many of those wounded were in a critical condition. Approximately fifteen minutes later, a second suicide bomber also struck at the staircase of the shrine. A witness reported: "Bodies were scattered all over and the injured people were crying for help." [1]

According to police officials, both the bombers tried to enter the shrine but being unsuccessful, blew themselves up on the entrance. A third suicide bomber was also recognized and arrested; [2] While people were running in panic, the bomber by chance ran into an elderly woman and a hand grenade dropped from his hand. [1] The woman signaled alarm and nearby security officials opened fire on him which left him wounded. The attempted suicide bomber was identified as Umar or "Fida Hussain", a teenager Afghan refugee hailing from the tribal areas in northwest Pakistan. [1] He writhed on the ground while people took away his equipment. [4]

Aftermath

Following the explosion, a state of emergency was declared and victims were shifted to various hospitals in Dera Ghazi Khan and nearby Multan. The death toll mounted as several people succumbed to their injuries in the various hospitals. [5]

It is said[ by whom? ] that the shrine had previously received threats from unknown militants. The Pakistani Taliban later claimed responsibility for the attacks. [6]

The shrine reopened the following day. [7]

Investigations

Two days after the attack, the police claimed that it had identified the masterminds behind the bombing and that arrests were about to be carried out. According to investigators, the planning for the bombing had been carried out in the Bajaur Agency in the tribal areas along the Afghan border. [8] Two of the suicide bombers were from North Waziristan; they had received their vests from handlers based in Dera Ismail Khan and later travelled to Dera Ghazi Khan, booking themselves a room at a hotel. [8] Umar, who failed to detonate his explosives, told interrogators that he had been told he would be granted paradise if he conducted the attack. He referred to himself as a "Fida'i" (meaning one who sacrifices their life for a cause), a term which militants often use for suicide bombers. When questioned how he would get into paradise by attacking people, he replied: "I don’t know about that but paradise must be better than this world." [8]

Response

Flag of Pakistan.svg A statement from the office of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani condemned the blast, stating "such cowardly acts of terror clearly demonstrate that the culprits involved neither have any faith nor any belief in human values. Such violent acts only seem to be conspiracy to divide the society and create fear." [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dera Ismail Khan</span> City in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Dera Ismail Khan, abbreviated as D.I. Khan, is a city and capital of Dera Ismail Khan District, located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the 37th largest city of Pakistan and fifth largest in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population. Dera Ismail Khan is situated on the west bank of the Indus River, at its junction with the Gomal River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lal Shahbaz Qalandar</span> Indian Sufi saint and poet (1177–1274)

Hazrat Sayyid Usman Marwandi, popularly known as Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, was a Sufi saint and poet of present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Sakhi Sarwar is a town in Dera Ghazi Khan District, Punjab, Pakistan. It is named after a Muslim Sufi saint Syed Ahmad Sultan, also known as Sakhi Sarwar, whose tomb is situated in the vicinity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khawaja Suleman Taunsvi</span> Sufi scholar

Muhammad Suleman Shah Taunsvi or Khawaja Allah Buksh Taunsvi, commonly known as Pir Pathan, was a Sufi scholar and leader within the Chishti order of Sufism. He was born to the Jafar Pakhtun tribe of Darug people, Loralai District, Balochistan province, in what is now Pakistan. His shrine lies in Tehsil Taunsa of district Dera Ghazi Khan of Punjab province in Pakistan. His urs is celebrated at his shrine every year from (5-7) Safar al-Muzaffar, second month of the Islamic Calendar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pakistani Taliban</span> Islamist militant organization operating along the Durand Line

Pakistani Taliban, formally called the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan, is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Afghan–Pakistani border. Formed in 2007 by Baitullah Mehsud, its current leader is Noor Wali Mehsud, who has publicly pledged allegiance to the Afghan Taliban. The Pakistani Taliban share a common ideology with the Afghan Taliban and have assisted them in the 2001–2021 war, but the two groups have separate operation and command structures.

A car bombing occurred on 15 December 2009 in a market located in the city of Dera Ghazi Khan in the southern region of Pakistan's largest province, Punjab. At least 33 people were reported killed and 50 more injured.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">July 2010 Lahore bombings</span>

The July 2010 Lahore bombings occurred on 1 July 2010 in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up at the Sufi shrine, Data Darbar Complex. At least 50 people were killed and 200 others were hurt in the blasts. It was the biggest attack on a Sufi shrine in Pakistan since 2001.

This is a list of terrorist attacks in Pakistan in the calendar year 2011.

These are the list of Terrorist attacks in Pakistan in 2010.

In 2008, Pakistan saw 40 terrorist attacks, which caused 154 fatalities and 256 injuries.

In 2009, Pakistan suffered 50 terrorist, insurgent and sectarian-related incidents that killed 180 people and injured 300.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Afghanistan Ashura bombings</span>

The 2011 Afghanistan Ashura bombings were a pair of bombings in the Afghan capital of Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif. The Kabul suicide bombing took place at around noon local time, on the day when Muslims commemorate Ashura, an annual holy day throughout the Muslim world particularly by the Shi'a Muslims.

This is a list of terrorist incidents in Pakistan in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Persecution of Sufis</span>

Persecution of Sufis over the course of centuries has included acts of religious discrimination, persecution, and violence both by Sunni and Shia Muslims, such as destruction of Sufi shrines, tombs and mosques, suppression of Sufi orders, murder, and terrorism against adherents of Sufism in a number of Muslim-majority countries. The Republic of Turkey banned all Sufi orders and abolished their institutions in 1925, after Sufis opposed the new secular order. The Islamic Republic of Iran has harassed Sufis, reportedly for their lack of support for the government doctrine of "governance of the jurist".

This article is an outline of terrorist incidents in Pakistan in 2017 in chronological order.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sehwan suicide bombing</span> Suicide bombing in Pakistan

On 16 February 2017, a suicide bombing took place inside the Shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan, Sindh, Pakistan, where pilgrims were performing a Sufi ritual after the evening prayers. At least 90 people were killed and over 300 injured.

Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad is a codename of a combined military operation by the Pakistani military in support of local law enforcement agencies to disarm and eliminate the terrorist sleeper cells across all states of Pakistan, started on 22 February 2017. The operation is aimed to eliminate the threat of terrorism, and consolidating the gains of Operation Zarb-e-Azb which was launched in 2014 as a joint military offensive. It is further aimed at ensuring the security of Pakistan's borders. The operation is ongoing active participation from Pakistan Army, Pakistan Air Force, Pakistan Navy, Pakistan Police and other Warfare and Civil Armed Forces managed under the Government of Pakistan. More than 375,000 operations have been carried out against terrorists so far. This Operation has been mostly acknowledged after Operation Zarb e Azb.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Jhal Magsi suicide bombing</span>

On 5 October 2017, a suicide bomber targeted the shrine of Pir Rakhel Shah situated in Fatehpur, a small town in Gandawah tehsil of Jhal Magsi district in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province. At least 20 people, including two policemen, were killed and more than 30 others injured in the suicide attack.

This article is a chronological outline of terrorist incidents in Pakistan in 2018.

The 2019 Lahore bombing was a suicide bomb attack that occurred on the morning of 8 May 2019 outside Data Darbar in Lahore, Pakistan. It killed at least 13 people and injured at least 24 others. CCTV footage of the blast showed the bomber targeted an Elite Police mobile parked outside the shrine. Hizbul Ahrar - a splinter group of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan - claimed responsibility for the attack. On 9 May 2019, security forces arrested four suspects during a raid in Lahore's Garhi Shahu area. On 10 May 2019, the provincial government formed a joint investigation team (JIT) to probe the incident.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "DG Khan shrine bombing: Death toll reaches 50". The Express Tribune . 3 April 2011.
  2. 1 2 "Death toll in shrine blast rises to 49". Dawn . Pakistan. 4 April 2011.
  3. ↑ "Pakistan Sufi shrine suicide attack kills 41". BBC. 3 April 2011. Archived from the original on 4 April 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  4. ↑ Rodriguez, Alex (4 April 2011). "Bombs kill 42 at shrine in Pakistan". Los Angeles Times.
  5. ↑ "Death toll from Pakistan shrine blasts rises to 50". Xinhua News Agency. 4 April 2011. Archived from the original on 7 November 2012.
  6. ↑ "41 killed in Pakistan shrine suicide attack". The Daily Telegraph. UK. 3 April 2011.
  7. ↑ "Shrine reopened for devotees". The News International . 4 April 2011.
  8. 1 2 3 Sakhi Sarwar attack: Police claim to have identified perpetrators
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.