Aljazeera TV announced that Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud has declared that his group is responsible for the Lahore attack, in a phone call to the channel.
The suicide attack is the first since the flood, and left at least 33 dead and more than 150 wounded. The victims targeted were Shi'ite Muslims.
The U.S. Department of State yesterday announced that it is offering rewards of up to $5 million each for information leading to the location of Hakimullah Mehsud and Wali Ur Rehman, his second-in-command.
According to a report in The News daily, at least 33 people were killed and more than 150 wounded in the three suicide bombings against the procession of Shi'ite Muslims. Some media reports said that nearly 280 people were wounded. The procession was by Shi'ite Muslims to mark the anniversary of the martyrdom of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth caliph of Islam and son-in-law of Prophet Muhammad.
It is not clear which of the Pakistani militant organizations was responsible for the attacks, especially since many of the Sunni jihadist organizations based in Pakistan's Punjab province, of which Lahore is the capital, are closely linked to both the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Al-Qaeda.
However, last night, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Al-Alami, an Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist organization, had claimed responsibility for the multiple suicide bombings on the Shi'ite procession. According to a report in the Urdu-language newspaper Roznama Jang, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Al-Alami, which is believed to be the new name of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, sent text messages to Pakistani television channels, claiming responsibility for the attacks.
Some media reports this morning quoted Qari Hussain, a senior commander of the Taliban and one of the close aides of TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud, as saying that the Taliban carried out the multiple suicide attacks to avenge the killing of Ali Sher Haideri, a leader of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), last year.
The SSP, a former political-religious party that has been outlawed for attacks on Shi'ite Muslims, is considered the mother of all Sunni terrorist organizations in Pakistan. The group does not consider Shi'ites to be Muslims.
According to a report in the Lahore-based Daily Times newspaper, Allama Abbas Kumaili, a prominent Shi'ite leader, has called for three days of mourning.
Sources: Aljazeera TV, September 2, 2010. U.S. Department of State, September 1, 2010; Roznama Jang, Pakistan, September 2, 2010; The News, Pakistan, September 2, 2010; Daily Times, Pakistan, September 2, 2010
