Lahore, Jan 20 (UNI) Three people were killed and 26 others injured in a bomb explosion near Pan Mandi in Lahore’s New Anarkali area on Thursday. A Twitter handle purportedly from one Mureed Baloch said the Baloch Nationalist Army (BNA) has claimed responsibility for the blast.
Videos from the blast site show shops and motorcycles burned and damaged. People heard the explosion miles away and saw grey smoke plumes in the sky.
The explosion left a crater at the site.
While there are several Baloch nationalist groups operating in Pakistan, the BNA has not been heard of previously.
Federal Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed played down reports about a previously unknown militant outfit having claimed responsibility for the blast in Lahore.
The minister has said that no one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The interior minister said security agencies would be able to reach a conclusion by Friday or Saturday.
Officials confirmed to Samaa that the Baloch Nationalist Army (BNA) group was created recently.
Raja Umar Khattab, chief of the Transnational Terrorists Intelligence Group (TTIG) of Sindh Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) that investigates threats from terrorist groups, said the BNA is a new terrorist group that has been formed by a merger of the banned Baloch Republican Army and United Baloch Army (UBA).
The TTIG chief said the Lahore blast was the second terrorist attack claimed by this new group in two days. It claimed to have carried out an attack on a security convoy in Balochistan’s Kech on January 19.
He said it was not clear who was heading this new group, but Mureed Baloch claims to be its spokesperson.
While Punjab Health Minister Yasmeen Rashid said two people died, Lahore police spokesperson Rana Arif confirmed to reporters that at least three people have been killed.
The deputy commissioner said 26 people were wounded, including four severely.
Immediately after the incident was reported, rescue teams reached the site. The injured were rushed to Mayo Hospital.
Lahore DIG Operations, in a media briefing, said it is suspected an explosive device was planted on a motorcycle. “But we would only be able to confirm this after the final investigation.”
Later, SSP Investigation Imran Kishwer confirmed that an unidentified man, placed high-intensity explosives weighing between one and 1.5 kilograms in the area. It is, however, yet to be investigated who he was.
Rana Arif said the device was triggered remotely.
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