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OpEdNews Op Eds    H3'ed 6/24/21

Deadly car bomb blast in Pakistan near residence of militant group founder

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At least three people have been killed and 13 others wounded Wednesday after a car-bomb blast near the residence of Hafiz Saeed, the founder of militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore, police officials said.

The blast took place in the Johar Town area of the city, Pakistan's second largest, provincial police chief Inam Ghani said.

"The [Counter Terrorism Department] has taken over the site of the attack completely," Ghani told reporters at the site of the blast shortly after it took place.

"The CTD will ascertain what it was, what material it was, what was used... and secondly, was it an [improvised explosive device] lodged in a vehicle, and whether it is a suicide attack or not."

Ghani said a police picket that was set up near the home of a "high-value target" was the apparent target of the attack.

Ghani said police were guarding Saeed's house at the time of the attack. He said the attackers might have succeeded in targeting Saeed's home had police not set up a security post in the street where the bombing happened.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blast.

"These attacks are usually carried out by countries that want to harm Pakistan and its progress," Ghani said.

The 71-year-old Hafiz Saeed was not at home because he has been serving a jail sentence at the Kot Lakhpat Jail Lahore for his conviction in terror-financing cases.

LeT founder Saeed is blamed by the United States and India for being the "mastermind" behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which killed more than 160 people in a series of coordinated bombings and shootings across the Indian financial capital.

Saeed has denied any wrongdoing and currently runs the charitable wing of the LeT, called Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), which has been designated by both Pakistan and the UN as a front for the armed group.

He was convicted and jailed last year in a series of terrorism-financing cases lodged by the Pakistani government as it tightened financial laws and restrictions as part of its review by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) inter-governmental body.

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Author and journalist. Author of Islamic Pakistan: Illusions & Reality; Islam in the Post-Cold War Era; Islam & Modernism; Islam & Muslims in the Post-9/11 America. Currently working as free lance journalist. Executive Editor of American (more...)
 
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