Bombs Kill 7 in Pakistan Zia Coup Anniversary

Three bombs exploded Sunday at bus and rail terminals in Lahore, killing seven people and wounding at least 50 on the 10th anniversary of the military coup that brought President Zia ul-Haq to power.

Police and hospital sources said women and children were among those killed in the midday bombings at Lahore’s train and bus stations and at a taxi stand near the rail depot.

The authorities said at least 57 people were injured in what appeared to be politically motivated attacks.

No claim of responsibility was immediately made. Authorities declined to speculate on whether the explosions were related to the 10th anniversary of the military coup that installed Zia.

Opposition leaders, declaring the anniversary “Black Sunday,” called for meetings and protests in several cities to press for the full restoration of democracy.

Leaders of the opposition alliance, Movement for the Restoration of Democracy, staged a rally in a bazaar near Lahore’s railway station late Sunday, drawing a crowd of fewer than 2,000 people who heard denunciations of Zia’s rule.

Bomb Under Bench

Witnesses said the bomb in the railway station went off shortly after noon beneath an iron bench on a platform as passengers boarded a train to Quetta, killing a woman and two children instantly. Two people died later at a hospital.

Two other people were killed by a bomb that exploded at a taxi stand 100 yards from the platform, authorities said. A short time later a third bomb went off at the bus station, injuring at least four people and damaging several buses, the authorities said.

Zia, the former army chief, overthrew Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on July 5, 1977, amid widespread unrest generated by a lopsided election victory. Bhutto was hanged 21 months later for complicity in the murder of a political rival.

Zia ruled under martial law until March, 1985, when the National Assembly was restored after elections on a non-party basis. A controversial referendum in December, 1984, extended Zia’s presidency for five years.