International

Bloody Easter as Suicide bomber kills 70 in Pakistan

Published

8 years ago

March 28, 2016

Bloody Easter as Suicide bomber kills 70 in Pakistan

It turned out to be a festival of blood and tears after a suicide bomber detonated a bomb in Pakistan’s Lahore killing at least 70 people and wounding 300 with those dead being mostly children and women.

Pakistani officials say the blast which took place at a crowded park in Lahore was later claimed by a faction of the Pakistani Taliban, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, which said the attack was aimed at Christians.

According to Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder reporting from Islamabad; “Christians were celebrating Easter Sunday at Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park, which is popular with families, when the bomber blew himself up a few metres from a children’s play area.”

Moments after Jamaat-ul-Ahrar issued a direct challenge to the government, authorities in Pakistan have launched a manhunt for those behind the attack.

“We want to send this message to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that we have entered Lahore,” a spokesman, Ehsanullah Ehsan, said. “He can do what he wants but he won’t be able to stop us. Our suicide bombers will continue these attacks.”

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