Deadly Blasts Hit Pakistan Shrine

Rescue and security officials gather at the scene of suicide bomb blasts targeting the shrine of Muslim saint Hazrat Ali bin Usman Al-Hajveri, aka Hazrat Data Ganj Bakhsh, in Lahore, Pakistan, 01 July 2010. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Suicide bombers have launched a deadly attack on a Sufi shrine in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore.

At least 37 people died in the blasts at the popular Data Darbar shrine late on Thursday evening, officials say.

At least 175 other people were hurt in the blasts, believed to be the first targeting a shrine in Lahore.

Thousands of people were visiting the shrine at the time, officials say. It holds the remains of a Persian Sufi saint, Abul Hassan Ali Hajvery.

The shrine is visited by hundreds of thousands of people each year from both Sunni and Shia traditions of Islam.

At least two attackers were involved, although police initially said three explosions had been heard.

The impact of the blasts ripped open the courtyard of the shrine. Rescue workers could be seen clambering over the rubble as they carried out the victims.

The attack is the biggest on a Sufi shrine in Pakistan since militant attacks began in 2001.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but correspondents say the attacks continue a growing trend among militants to target members of other sects as well as minorities.

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