Lashkar-i-Jhangvi responsible for Lahore bombings as death toll rises to 37 (Video)

According to the website of an Urdu newspaper, Sunni Islamist extremist group Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LJ), a faction that is considered part of the Punjabi Taliban, has taken credit for an attack by three suicide bombers yesterday that killed 37 people during a Shia procession in Lahore in eastern Pakistan.

Experts say the extremist group’s goal was not only to launch a sectarian attack but to destabilize the Pakistani government as it struggles to deal with the worst natural disaster Pakistan has ever faced as 20 million people have been impacted by record flooding.

The Shia mourning procession near Karbala Gamay Shah consisted of thousands of people during the breaking of the fast of the holy month of Ramazan.

“Thirty-one people have died and a total of 281 were injured,” said Fahim Jehanzeb, a spokesman for Lahore's rescue agency.

People took their anger out on nearby police for their lack of protection. A riot erupted as marchers turned protestors burnt police cars, tires and chanted slogans while security forces retaliated by tear-gassing and baton-charging the angry crowd. The crowd also tried to burn down government property, while an angry mob attacked the Lower Mall and Bhaati Gate police stations.

Lahore Commissioner Khusro Pervez acknowledged afterward that police negligence was one of the main reasons behind the explosions and the subsequent violence.

LJ is a key partner within the ever growing extremist conglomerate know as the Punjabi Taliban which consists of other terrorist outfits such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed, and Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami. LJ is infamous for carrying out sectarian terror attacks against minority Shia, Ahmadis, Sufis, and Christians in Pakistan.

LJ has integrated with al Qaeda and the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and is focused on executing terror acts in the tribal areas, the Northwest Frontier Province and throughout Punjab province.

This attack came in the wake of the Pakistan Army killing over 60 insurgents and their family members in air strikes on Tuesday and Wednesday in the tribal areas.

The Punjabi and Pakistani Taliban have no qualms about attacking both Shia and Sunni mosques and other Islamic institutions, having launched 24 major attacks in Pakistan since December 2007, according to information compiled by The Long War Journal.

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