Pakistanis demanded a tougher government crackdown on militants at protests today a day after suicide bombers killed dozens in the country's most economically important province and traditional seat of power.
In the second major attack in the eastern city of Lahore in the Punjab heartland in a month, two suicide bombers struck Pakistan's most important Sufi shrine on Thursday night, killing at least 42 people and wounding 175.
The deaths will pile fresh pressure on the state to tackle militancy after gains made in offensives against Taliban insurgents in the northwest had improved the army's standing.
Security was beefed up at Sufi shrines across the country as the US-backed Pakistani government sought to project an image of stability in the face of mounting violence.
Pakistanis, many of them already frustrated by a troubled economy and crippling power cuts, called for the resignation of Punjab government officials after the bloodshed.
About 2,000 people, some armed, staged protests in Lahore, shouting "Down with Shahbaz Sharif", the chief minister of Punjab. His repeated vows to defeat terrorists were ridiculed.
"Such attacks have been taking place frequently in Punjab. I think now he should use his iron hand instead of threatening to use it after every such attack," Muslim cleric Mohammad Naeem told private Dunya television.
Taliban militants generally abhor the Sufi strand of Islam and disapprove of Muslims visiting shrines, popular with many Pakistanis.
Militants may have been trying to whip up emotions by attacking sacred religious sites in a bid to destabilise Pakistan, a nuclear-armed, regional power that Washington sees as critical in the fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
A new wave of domestic violence and deeper public discontent could distract Pakistan's government, which analysts say is busy manoeuvring to gain maximum leverage in Afghanistan if peace is negotiated, in order to counter rival India's influence there.
Militants linked to al-Qaeda and the Taliban have unleashed a wave of attacks across Pakistan in revenge for the military offensives in their bastions in the northwest of the country near the Afghan border.
While most of the reprisal attacks have taken place there, militants have stepped up operations in the country's heartland, mainly the central province of Punjab, in recent months. Ties between Punjab militants, the Taliban and al-Qaeda are especially worrying for the government, which has said the military is stretched in campaigns in the northwest.
The violence had little impact on Pakistan's stock market, as investors were already on the sidelines following the imposition of a new capital gains tax yesterday.
The Karachi Stock Exchange's (KSE) benchmark 100-share index , ended 0.34 per cent, or 33.34 points, lower at 9,697.65.
Hundreds of devotees were visiting the marble shrine of the 11th century Persian Sufi saint, Syed Ali Hajwairi, commonly known as Data Gunj Bakhsh when Thursday's attacks occurred.
After prayers, protesters carried placards urging authorities to close down religious schools where the Taliban's fundamentalist ideology is taught.
Officials have blamed attacks in the province on the "Punjabi Taliban", a term used for the militants drawn from Punjab who have joined ranks with Taliban in the northwest.
Reuters