Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Thursday said that a banned sectarian militant outfit, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, was involved the current wave of terrorist attacks in the country. He said that this while talking to media after visiting a Rawalpindi hospital to inquire about the health of people injured in the Wednesday night attack on a Muharram procession in Dhok Syedan.
"The next three days are very critical and law enforcement and intelligence agencies have been directed to prevent terrorist activities during Ashura," he said. According to him, Afghan nationals and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi were involved in the current wave of terrorist activities in the country. The decision whether to suspend cellular services and imposing a ban on the use of motorbikes on Ashura would be taken after examining intelligence reports, he said.
Without being specific, he claimed that a foreign power was trying to destabilise Pakistan, adding that three different terrorist groups were bent on destroying the country. He said that law-enforcement agencies had made sufficient progress in their investigations into the Rawalpindi blast. Police sources said that after the Rawalpindi blast, secret agencies have declared five areas of the federal capital 'highly sensitive'. These areas include Golra, Shah Allah Ditta, Tarnol, Jhangi Syedan and an area in the jurisdiction of Shahzad Town Police Station.
The source said that intelligence agencies have forwarded reports to top officials of the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration, Capital Police and the 111 Brigade. Meanwhile, funeral prayers for 16 victims of the Wednesday night blast were simultaneously offered at Imambargah Qasar-e-Shabbir at Dhok Syedan at 3pm amid tight security. The funeral prayers were led by Allama Mohsin Abbas Hamdani and was attended by political personalities and people from different walk of life.
Later, the blast victims were laid to rest in a row at Sadaat Community Graveyard at Dhok Syedan. The blast victims, whose mass funeral prayer was offered, included Syed Ziaul Hussain Shah, Syed Tanveer Shah, Syed Shaiq Raza, Suhail Abbas, Saqlain Abbas, Syed Kamran Abbas, Rahil Abbas (Group Scout Leader), Nauman Shah, Syed Mushtaq Hussain Shah, Syed Own Ali Kazmi, Shabihul Hassan Kazmi, Ghaznafar Abbas, Muhammad Nadeem, Muhammad Azeem, Asif Hussain and Adil Hussain.
All roads leading to the crime scene and the graveyard had been closed off for traffic by placing barricades. Earlier in the day, the local community staged a peaceful protest at Kamalabad Chowk, condemning the killings and demanding fool-proof security for the next three days.
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