AT LEAST 31 PEOPLE have died following a triple bomb attack in Lahore, Pakistan, last night. Around 170 people were injured.
A three-day period of mourning has been announced out of respect for the dead and injured, the BBC reports.
Three bombs exploded as Shia Muslims marched in a traditional procession mourning the assassination of the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin, Ali, around 1,300 years ago.
The first bomb is believed to have been a time bomb, while the other two were suicide bomb attacks.
The BBC has this footage of the aftermath:
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks. Lahore has increasingly become a target of Taliban and Al-Qaeda attacks, and over 3,600 people have been killed there in the past three years, according to AFP.
After the blasts, angered marchers attacked the police, setting fire to a police station, two police cars, and three motorbikes. Police responded by firing tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Yesterday, Pakistan’s military targeted a militant hideout on the Afghan border, killing 45 people, including children, in an air strike.
[caption id="attachment_18143" align="alignnone" width="512" caption="Angry protesters burn a police vehicle during reaction over the explosions.(AP Photo/K.M.Chaudary)"]
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