Terrorists have struck the city seven times since Sharifs sworn in in 2013

Author: Kashif Hussain

LAHORE: The provincial capital of Punjab – which is considered a stronghold of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) – has faced seven terror attacks since May 2013 killing at least 175 people and injuring 664 others.

Though, it was a general perception and also an allegation from the opposition parties that the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz had sympathies for the banned organisations like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Pro-Pakistani Talibans, suicide bombing in their hub city continued in their democratic tenure.

Soon after establishment of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government on July 7, 2013, a bomb blast targeted the food street in Old Anarkali Bazaar killing five people, besides injuring 46 others.

The democratic government of the right wing party faced had to face another terror attack in the same year on October 10 when another bomb blast was occurred in the Anarkali Bazaar which killed a man and wounded 16 people.

However in 2014, terrorists succeeded to strike the city only once – thanks to some strict measures taken by the government – in which they breached a high security zone near Wagah border on November 2 in which 60 lives were lost and 110 were injured.

But the very next year, the city witnessed two big bomb blasts – the first one close to the main gate of Police Lines at Qilla Gujjar Singh on February 17, 2015 killed five and injured 25 while two churches in the Christian neighbourhood of Youhanabad were targeted on March 15, 2015 in which 15 Christians were killed and 70 people were injured.

Last year, a suicide bomber exploded himself up at Gulshan Iqbal Park on the eve of Easter in which 72 people lost their lives while 300 were injured.

And on February 13, 2017, at least 16 people were killed and 98 injured in a suicide attack at Charing Cross in front of the Punjab Assembly.