Bhawalnagar: 5 killed, scores injured in a granade attack on Ashura procession

At least five people were killed and more than 30 injured in a reported grenade attack on Muharram profession in Bahawalnagar, on Thursday.

The alleged attacker who hurled a cracker on the Ashura procession has been arrested by police.

As being reported, a man hurled a grenade at a procession passing by Jamia Masjid in Muhajir Colony in Bahawalnagar at around 10 am.

Punjab Home Minister Raja Basharat said two of the injured were in critical condition and undergoing treatment at Bahawalpur Victoria Hospital, where all wounded had been shifted.

Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar chaired a high-level meeting at the Safe City Authority and ordered the Counter-Terrorism Department to submit a report on the Bahawalnagar blast.

Reacting to the incident the Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) strongly condemned the “cracker attack. 

In a statement shared on Twitter by PUC president and Special Representative of the Prime Minister on Religious Harmony Hafiz Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi said, “Anti-Islam and anti-Pakistan elements want to spread terrorism and extremism to create chaos in Pakistan, [attempts at which] have been made unsuccessful by the Pakistani nation in the past and will be made unsuccessful now as well.”

Senator Sehar Kamran also condemned the attack.