Suicide attack: At least 70 people were killed and over 300 wounded in a suicide attack at a public park in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Sunday, rescue officials said. The blast occurred in the parking area of Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park, just outside the exit gate and a few feet away from children’s swings.
A large number of people including Christians were present in the Gulshan—e—Iqbal Park in Iqbal Town area here when the blast occurred yesterday, leaving many in a pool of blood.
“The toll has risen to 72. The rescue operation is continuing,” a rescue official of the Punjab Province government told Express News. Eyewitnesses said they saw body parts strewn across the parking lot once the dust had settled. The park was particularly busy on Sunday evening due to the Easter holiday weekend.
Pakistan police say a suicide bomber was behind the blast. Those killed included women and children. Over 300 people were also injured in the attack and many of them were in a critical condition.
Most of the injured were women and children, Jam Sajjad Hussain, a rescue service spokesman, told Reuters. He added that more than 30 injured had been taken to various hospitals in the city.
Witnesses said they hear children screaming as people carried the injured in their arms, while frantic relatives searched for their loved ones.
“We took the injured to hospitals on rickshaws and taxis,” one eye witness said.
He added that the crowd was unusually large because of Easter celebration. Doctors described frenzied scenes at hospitals, with staff treating casualties on floors and in corridors, as officials tweeted calls for blood donations.
Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif chaired a high-level meeting late Sunday night, which was attended by heads of the Inter-Services Intelligence(ISI) and Military Intelligence(MI) among other military officials, said Lt. Gen. Asim Bajwa on Twitter
The army chief ordered concerned commanders and intellignce officials to immediately start operations to nab perpetrators of the attack, said Bajwa.
“We must bring the killers of our innocent brothers, sisters and children to justice and will never allow these savage inhumans to over-run our life and liberty,” Bajwa said in a post on Twitter.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also chaired a meeting at the PM House where he was briefed by his security advisers on the attack, a statement released from his office said.
A faction of the Pakistani Taliban called Jamaat ul Ahrar claimed responsiblity for the attack, and issued a direct challenge to the government.
“The target was Christians,” said their spokesperson, Ehsanulla Ehsan. “We want to send this message to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that we have entered Lahore”
Source: News Agencies
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