Identity of Lahore suicide bomber still a mystery

Pakistani law enforcement agencies have yet to ascertain the identity of the bomber who blew himself up at the Gulshan-e-Iqbal park in Lahore, killing at least 72 people and injuring scores of others.

Even though the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the March 27 attack, saying they deliberately targeted Christians celebrating Easter on Sunday evening, and issuing a picture of the bomber, there is no evidence yet to prove that both claims were true, Dawn online quoted sources as saying on the condition of anonymity.

Sources, also part of investigations and their supervision, said on Thursday that there was no prior specific threat warning for the park. There are indications of the arrest of some local helpers of the suicide bomber, but the sources contest it.

They confirm that it was a suicide bombing. The only thing collected from the site was a half head with burnt ears. The head was sent to the Punjab Forensic Science Laboratory which conducted its DNA test and with its help identified the other parts of the blown up body of the bomber.

They said that mere DNA test cannot establish bomber's identity. In order to do so, one has to match his DNA with those of his blood relations.

So far, no relative of the dead man, or of the one claimed to be the suicide bomber by the TTP, have been located.

Declaring that the dead man was actually the one whose picture was released by the TTP on the ground that their ears matched each other might not be a strong scientific evidence, the sources said.

Sources said the precision of the attack and the colossal damage it caused proved its painstaking preparation. In this case, the bomber appeared to be in the locality much before he struck.

They said Punjab has been successful in preventing terrorism last year and till the Gulshan-e-Iqbal tragedy this year because of intelligence-based proactive operations.