PAKISTAN-INDIA ATTACK/SECURITY/HOSPITAL Death toll in India-Pakistan border bombing increases to 45: police

Record ID: 355036

  • Title: PAKISTAN-INDIA ATTACK/SECURITY/HOSPITAL Death toll in India-Pakistan border bombing increases to 45: police
  • Date: 2nd November 2014
  • Summary: WOUNDED SOLDIERS AND CIVILIANS IN FRONT OF THE HOSPITAL
  • Embargoed: 17th November 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA8RJIT7ILJDCCFSHEVPP9T0DUP
  • Story Text: The provincial police chief in the Pakistani city of Lahore told Reuters that the death toll in a suicide bombing at an India-Pakistan border crossing has risen to 45.
    The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack on the Pakistani-Indian border near the Pakistani city of Lahore on Sunday (November 2), about 500 metres from the Wagah border crossing.
    The deputy inspector general of police operations, Haider Ashraf, said: "We have around 60 injured people. We are transferring them to different hospitals. We are transporting the dead bodies to the morgue. We have to do three things: we have to secure the crime scene, we have to identify the dead bodies, and hand them over to their relatives. There are children and women among the injured. We have to transfer the critically injured to other hospitals."
    The attack was carried out in response to the Pakistani army's operation against Islamist militants in the tribal areas straddling the Afghan border, according to a senior commander.
    Pakistani police said they were investigating the attack and a doctor said up to 70 people had been wounded.
    Hundreds of people visit the Wagah border crossing near the Pakistani city of Lahore every day to witness the flags of both countries being lowered just before sunset.
    India and Pakistan have fought three wars and remain locked in a bitter conflict over the region of Kashmir, which both sides claim.
    India accuses Pakistan of sponsoring jihadist groups in the region and encouraging them to make inroads into Indian territory to stage attacks against Indian forces, a charge Pakistan denies.
    But the Taliban claim of responsibility suggested the suicide bombing had nothing to do with India.
    Ashok Kumar, inspector general of India's Border Security Force guarding Wagah, said the blast had taken place at around 6:15pm local time.
    Any explosion on the India-Pakistan border is far more serious than a similar event on the Pakistan-Afghan border, another Indian security official said. He said there had not been any major attack in Pakistani Punjab in recent months.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register