A massive explosion was reported in the Pakistani city of Sialkot, news agency ANI reported citing the local media. The blast was reported near an army cantonment, and further details weren't available. "Multiple explosions at the Sialkot military base in northern Pakistan. Initial indications are this is an ammunition storage area. A large fire is burning. Cause as yet unverified," Rishi Suri, editor of The Daily Milap, tweeted.
The incident comes amid an ongoing trial in the anti-terrorism court (ATC) over the lynching of a Sri Lankan national over blasphemy allegations. In a shocking incident in December last year, a mob of hundreds of men including supporters of a hardline Islamist party, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), attacked a garment factory and lynched its general manager Priyantha Kumara Diyawadana and burned his body over allegations of blasphemy in Sialkot district, some 100-km from Lahore.
The incident sparked outrage across Pakistan with all sections of society condemning it and calling for the culprits to be given exemplary punishment. "The ATC Lahore recorded the statements of 17 prosecution witnesses against the suspects allegedly involved in the ghastly incident of lynching and burning of Priyantha Kumara Diyawadana, 47, a court official told PTI on Tuesday.
The trial is being held in jail and is in-camera because of security concerns. ATC judge Natasha Nasim is holding the trial proceedings inside the Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore on a day-to-day basis. The ATC Lahore on last Saturday indicted 89 suspects involved in the incident. On Monday, six prosecution witnesses had recorded their statements. The prosecution has submitted a list of 40 witnesses, videos of the suspects, DNA and forensic evidence. The suspects had denied the charges of their involvement in the crime.
