Blaming foreign "cowards" for a bus bombing that burned so hot paramedics could only watch those trapped inside die, Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on Monday declared war on terrorism.
At the site of the explosion that killed 40 people Sunday, Bhutto looked over the charred, twisted metal remains and urged the nation "to forge complete unity to crush them."No one has claimed responsibility for stuffing a bomb in the bus fuel tank, but Bhutto told the state-run news agency it was "foreign-inspired subversion," a usual reference to neighboring India.
The bus, packed with Muslims heading home to celebrate Eid al-Adha, Islam's most sacred holiday, exploded in the marketplace of Bhai Pheru, a tiny town 15 miles east of Lahore. With many of the 26 injured severely burned and in critical condition, the death toll was expected to rise.
"There were two explosions," said Ata Dada, a paramedic, whose first-aid station was about 200 yards from the explosion. "The first one and then a second one almost immediately, I guess when the petrol tank exploded."
"We couldn't do anything, but watch," Dada said.
Bhutto promised a new fight against terrorism but did not provide details on who was suspected or what the new push would entail.
"We will wait for the investigation reports," she was quoted as telling the state-run news agency, but added: "The perpetrators of such acts will not go unpunished."
For years Pakistan, which is predominantly Muslim, and India, which is mainly Hindu but has a largely Muslim state on their shared border, have blamed each other for ethnic violence.
The two countries have three times gone to war since the subcontinent was divided between Muslims and Hindus in 1947.