LAHORE: The attack on Sakhi Sarwar shrine was the sixth on major shrines in the country since 2007.

Syed Ahmad Sultan Sakhi Sarwar is also known as Lakh Data, Sakhi Sultan and Lalan Wali Sarkar. He was son of Hazrat Zainul Abedin, who migrated from Baghdad and settled in Shahkot (near Multan) in 1220AD. He studied in Lahore and later went to Dhounkal, near Wazirabad, for higher education.

Sakhi Sarwar preached Islam in Sodhra, near Wazirabad. He also stayed at Dhounkal with his contemporary saints Shaikh Shahabuddin Suhrawardy and Hazrat Moinuddin Ajmeri. From Dhounkal, Sakhi Sarwar went to Dera Ghazi Khan and settled in Nagaha, now named after him.

Many villages in the Indian state of Punjab also have shrines of Lakh Data Pir.

In October last year, four people were killed and 13 others injured when a bomb exploded at the gate of the shrine of famous Sufi Baba Farid Ganjshakar in Pakpattan.

In the same month, two suicide bombers blew themselves up at the mausoleum of Abdullah Shah Ghazi in Karachi, killing eight people and injuring 65.

A suicide attack on Data Darbar in Lahore in July claimed more than 40 lives.

The Bari Imam shrine in Islamabad and the Rehman Baba shrine in Peshawar were attacked by terrorists in January 2007 and March 2009, respectively.