Terrorism-related Incidents in Lahore - 2011

Date

Incident

January 17

The JuD organised rally in Lahore and invited clerics to speak during the demonstration spewed hate speech upon targeted minorities, incited people to violence with impunity and roused people to adopt the ‘way of jihad’.

January 25

A suicide bomber struck at the Ghora Chowk in the Urdu Bazaar area of Lahore, the Provincial Capital of Punjab, killing at least 10 people, including a woman and three Policemen, and injured at least 85 others.

January 26

The TTP claimed responsibility for bomb explosions that occurred in Lahore (Punjab) on January 25 and said the blasts were aimed at killing SFs because they serve the US interests.

February 3

Three persons were killed and 27 others were injured in a bomb explosion outside the Baba Haider Sayeen shrine in Lahore.

February 4

Officials of a sensitive agency took into custody a suspect, Muhammad Qaiser, from Shafiqabad area in Lahore for his connections with a banned outfit involved in some terror activities in the province of Punjab.

February 5

JuD chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed in Lahore warned India to 'quit' Jammu and Kashmir or be prepared for a "war" even as the extremist outfits organised protests at several places in Pakistan to mark Kashmir Solidarity Day.

February 8

A full bench of the Supreme Court acquitted Asghar Ali who was awarded life sentence on two accounts by ATC on the charge of his involvement in Ichra bomb blast in Lahore on September 22, 2005.

February 28

The FIA arrested 28 illegal African nationals from Mecca Colony in Gulberg area of Lahore. The arrested persons failed to provide legal proof of their stay in Pakistan.

March 1

A joint team of Police and Intelligence agencies neutralised a terrorist outfit comprising cadres of the TTP and some Afghan nationals, seizing 16 kilograms of explosives, a rocket launcher and pistols in Lahore.

March 8

Iqbal Town Police arrested some suspected militants in Sherakot area of Lahore District in connection with the Faisalabad blast.

March 18

Two Police constables were killed by three unidentified militants at a Tape Road picket near Data Durbar area of Lahore.

March 29

Police claimed it has arrested six more alleged terrorists belonging to TTP, over the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore.

April 9

Three suspected militants were arrested by SFs from the Civil Lines Police Station of Lahore.

LEA arrested two alleged terrorists, identified as Qari Mustafa and Commander Ameen, in connection with the suicide attacks on the Chehlum procession of Hazrat Ali (A.S) near Karbala Gammy Shah in Lahore on September 2, 2010. The arrests yielded explosives, suicide jackets and sophisticated weapons.

People were not allowed to go near the monumental structure of Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore because of security reasons. Minar-e-Pakistan Project Director Shafique Raza said people had been barred from going near the Minar-e-Pakistan because militants have threatened to target the monument and consequently the management decided to close it to visitors.

An American aid expert, identified as Warren Weinstein, was abducted after unidentified assailants stormed through the backdoor of his house in Model Town area of Lahore and overpowered his guards. The US embassy said Warren Weinstein worked for a private company. Warren Weinstein was abducted just two days before he was due to return to the United States after more than four years of his stay in Pakistan. Police said Weinstein had lived in Lahore since 2006, and was associated with JE Austin Associates working in the Tribal Areas.

Police arrested two persons from Thanda Pani in Nilor of Lahore for their allegedly involvement in a suicide attack on Bari Imam Shrine and assassination of Agha Ziauddin on May 27, 2005. Hafiz Abdul Maroof (27) and Mohammad Nadeem Gilgiti (31) are active members of banned outfits SSP and LeJ. Two hand grenades and other weapons were recovered from their possession. At least 20 people were killed and 100 others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself at the shrine on May 27, 2005. Police said the two were planning to target leaders of a religious group in the capital, Islamabad.

A bomb hoax in the FIA building on Temple Road prevented Additional Director General Zafar Ahmed Qureshi from attending his `first day` in office after getting reinstated.

JuD has been holding gatherings at pre-dawn prayers in Lahore District of Punjab during the month of Ramzan to collect donations despite Government orders of August 2, 2011 barring it from such activities. The JuD has been organising speeches by its chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed at various places and advertising them through posters, pamphlets and mass text messages. Addressing a meeting held on August 22 at a marriage hall at Moon Market in Gulshan-e-Ravi, Saeed condemned India for allegedly "trying to flood Pakistan by deliberately releasing water in its rivers" and ended with a plea for donations.

HuT, another group banned from collecting donations during Ramzan, too has put up banners on the Mall road in Lahore.

Shahbaz Taseer, a son of the slain Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer, was abducted by armed abductors from Lahore. The abductors intercepted Shahbaz when he was about to reach his office in Gulberg. "Shahbaz was out with a friend when four unidentified people kidnapped him," his brother Sheharyar Taseer told Reuters. He said the family had been receiving threats from militants, adding, "It seems they are behind it." As reported earlier, Salmaan Taseer was assassinated by his own body guard on January 4, 2011.

Lahore Police claimed to have rescued US development expert, Warren Weinstein (70), who was abducted on August 13 from Lahore. Lahore Police Chief Malik Ahmed Raza says authorities rescued Warren Weinstein during an early morning operation in Khushab city. Weinstein is the country director in Pakistan for JE Austin Associates, a US-based firm that advises a range of Pakistani business and Government sectors.

A low-intensity time device, installed in a lunch box, hanging along the handle of a bike exploded close to a local university in B-Block area of Faisal Town in Lahore District.

An ATC awarded death penalty to Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri.

Mumtaz Qadri, the self-confessed assassin of former Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, was sentenced to death on two counts for murder and terrorism by a Rawalpindi ATC in Punjab.

The Pakistani judge of the ATC, Parvez Ali Shah, who awarded the death sentence to Malik Mumtaz Qadri, the assassin of former Punjab Governor Salman Taseer is reported to have gone on indefinite leave since October 1 after lawyers attacked his courtroom and a spate of protests and death threats.

Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, the assassin of former Punjab Governor Salman Taseer filed an appeal against his death sentence.

ATC-II confirmed interim bail of Muhammad Ibrahim, an accused allegedly involved in an attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team on March 3, 2009 at Liberty Chowk in Lahore.

Thousands of people protested across the country against the death sentence handed out to Malik Mumtaz Qadri for the January 4, 2011 murder of former Punjab Governor Slaman Taseer. The rallies were organised by several groups, including JeI, Jama'at-e-Ahle Sunnat and Jama'at-e-Ahl-e-Hadith.

One web editor of The London Post, identified as, Faisal Qureshi, was found dead at his family house in Johar town in Lahore District.

Former LHC Chief Justice Khawaja Sharif will defend Malik Mumtaz Qadri, the murderer of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer in court on October 11. Qadri's trial has remained a controversial one, with violent protests being taken out across Pakistan against the verdict.

October 21

The JeI asked President Asif Ali Zardari to utilise his special powers to grant amnesty to Mumtaz Qadri, the self-confessed assassin of former Punjab Governor Salman Taseer.

Around 17 suspected terrorists, including three TTP 'commanders' were arrested from Lahore, Multan and Okara Districts. Several mobile phones and laptops were seized from these suspects. The TTP 'commanders' include Qari Muhammad Ashraf, Dr Abdul Khaliq and Mohammad Sarfraz. Sources said that the arrested TTP 'commanders' previously belonged to LeJ.

It was reported that anti-peace jihadists have launched a hate campaign against India across Lahore. There have been incidents of wall chalking across the city. The slogans were written on different walls, mainly in Model Town and canal areas. The slogans urge citizens to launch a jihad against India. One of the slogan translated into English reads, "India deserved only one treatment al-jihad, al-jihad." Another slogan put on the canal bridge linking the Jinnah Hospital reads, "We have only one relation with India: the relation of hate and revenge." The JuD Model Town chapter claimed responsibility for the wall chalking, and the name of the outfit has been mentioned at the end of every slogan.

The JuD, the frontal organisation of LeT blamed for the 2008 Mumbai attacks, organised a rally to protest the Pakistan Government's move to give MFN-status to India.

The JuD, the frontal organisation of LeT, protested in front of the Lahore Press Club- its third demonstration in the city in a week - against the granting of MFN trade status to India and the NATO attack on Pakistani troops. Some 800 protestors from Al Muhammadia Students Pakistan, JuD's youth wing, gathered at the press club carrying banners and placards calling for, among other things, Pakistan's withdrawal from its alliance with the United States. Some young men wielded daggers. They later travelled in buses to Nasser Bagh and offered prayers for the Pakistani soldiers. Addressing the rally, JuD leaders urged the young protestors to prepare for jihad and urged the Pakistan Army to give a "befitting response" to the "NATO aggression".

Intelligence agencies and the Lahore Police arrested a terrorist, identified as Saad, along with a suicide jacket and explosives weighing 16 kilograms from Raiwind Road near Thokar Niaz Baig area of Lahore.

In the Difaa-e-Pakistan Conference ('Defence of Pakistan' conference) led by JuD and Jama'at-e-Ulema-Islam, about 50,000 Islamists, including chief Hafiz Saeed, staged a protest at Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore on December 18 to condemn the US and India, while showing support for Pakistan's military.

At least 16 Punjab University students were seriously injured in a sectarian clash between Islami Jama'at-e-Talaba and Imamia Students Organisation in Lahore.