Pharmacists caught up in Lahore blast

Pharmacists in Pakistan protesting about new government regulations were caught up in what is thought to be a suicide bomb attack in Lahore on 13 February 2017, which claimed at least 13 lives and saw scores of others injured.

Pharmacists and others from pharmacy organisations were protesting outside the Provisional Assembly of the Punjab when the blast occurred. Details were still emerging on 14 February 2017 but two senior policeman had been confirmed as dead.

The attack — later claimed by the Taliban — was condemned by pharmacist Khalid Ahmed, chair and founder of the British Pakistani Pharmacists’ Association.

He says: “The school of pharmacy is based in Lahore near to where the blast happened in Mall Road, which is like the Oxford Street of Lahore.

“It was a peaceful protest against new regulations which the government had just brought in without any consultation and they wanted to protest in an up-market area so that people would know about it.

“We don’t know whether it was just coincidence that the blast happened when it did or if the protesters were targeted.”

In a statement issued on 13 February 2017, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, president of Pakistan, vowed to continue the country’s fight against terrorism. He said: “We have fought this fight against the terrorists among us, and will continue to fight it until we liberate our people of this cancer, and avenge those who have laid down their lives for us.

“This is not only a responsibility of this administration, but also a solemn pledge to the people of this country. We will not stop until we can call ourselves a free and secure people; that is a promise.”