LAHORE: A suicide bomber killed at least 55 people yesterday at the main Pakistan-India border crossing, the blast tearing through crowds of spectators leaving after the colourful daily ceremony to close the frontier.
The explosion, which wounded more than 120, came at Wagah border gate near the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore after the “flag-lowering” ceremony, a display of military pageantry that attracts thousands of spectators every day and is popular with foreign tourists.
The attack is a rare strike in Punjab, Pakistan’s richest and most populous province and powerbase of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, which has been spared the worst of the bloody wave of violence that has assailed the country in recent years. It is the deadliest attack to hit Pakistan since a suicide bombing at a church in the northwestern city of Peshawar killed 80 people in September last year.
Sharif expressed “grief and sorrow” over the attack in a statement issued by his office. His Indian counterpart Narendra Modi condemned the “shocking” and “dastardly” attack. Huge crowds gather on both sides at Wagah each sunset to see the display of military pageantry that accompanies the formal closing of the border post. AFP
