Pak intelligence, top cops see "foreign hand" behind Lahore, Karachi suicide attacks

Lahore, Jan 26(ANI): The back-to-back terror attacks in Lahore and Karachi were launched by foreign-sponsored terrorists, intelligence sources and top police investigators have claimed.

On Tuesday, a teenager suicide bomber blew up his explosive vest near Urdu Bazaar Crossing when he was stopped from entering the Chehlum procession of Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA), leaving 16 people dead - including four policemen- and dozens others injured.

About an hour later, a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden motorbike into a police van in Karachi, killing at least three people- including two policemen- and wounding four others.

During background interviews, intelligence sources and top police investigators said some foreign forces were openly funding terrorist organisations, including the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), to destabilise nuclear-armed Pakistan as the security forces were at war to flush out militants from its soil.

'We see some foreign hand behind the terrible blast in which innocent people have been martyred. Some foreign forces are financing and supporting the terrorists to destabilise the country', The Nation quoted Lahore police chief Aslam Tareen, as saying.

Some religious elements were playing in the hands of Pakistan's enemies in the name of Islam, said Tareen, adding that the terror strikes could be a backlash to the ongoing war on terror.

'Definitely, it (terror strike) is a great conspiracy against Pakistan. Military, police and public all are fighting this continuous war bravely and courageously. The way we are fighting the war, we will achieve success with help of people of this country', said the Lahore police chief.

Security experts said that hostile foreign-funded elements had always tried to create differences between Sunni and Shia communities to create unrest in the country.

"Presently, religious shrines are being targeted to ignite emotions of people. The aim is to widen the sectarian divide among peaceful factions. We need to take solid steps to counter this very serious threat," an expert commented.

"Hostile elements have enlisted the general pattern of sectarian divide (Shia-Sunni, Brelvi-Deobandi, Brelvi-Deobandi-Ahle Hadith and others) as one of the Pakistani vulnerabilities," the expert added.

Target killings of prominent religious leaders, bomb blasts and suicide attacks in religious processions in Pakistan are few examples in this regard. (ANI)