A suicide bomber killed at least 65 people, mostly women and children, at a public park in the Pakistani city of Lahore yesterday, government officials and police said, striking at the heart of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s political base of Punjab.
The blast occurred in the parking area of Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park, a few metres away from children’s swings. More than 280 people were injured in the explosion, officials said.
The Taliban faction Jamaat-ul-Ahrar has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the target of the attack was Muslim Pakistan’s small Christian minority.
“The target were Christians,” said a spokesman for the faction, Ehsanullah Ehsan. “We want to send this message to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that we have entered Lahore. He can do what he wants but he won’t be able to stop us. Our suicide bombers will continue these attacks.”
Eyewitnesses said they saw body parts strewn across the car park once the dust had settled after the blast. The park had been particularly busy on Sunday evening due to the Easter holiday weekend.
Salman Rafique, a health adviser for the Punjab provincial government, put the death toll at at least 60 people.
“Most of the dead and injured are women and children,” said Mustansar Feroz, police superintendent for the area in which the park is located.
Captain (Retd) Muhammad Usman, a rescue official, said the head of the suicide bomber has been recovered. Ball bearings have also been found at the site.
Media footage showed children and women crying and screaming and rescue officials, police and bystanders carrying injured people to ambulances and private cars.
The Punjab provincial government has announced three days of mourning.
In 2014, Pakistan launched an offensive against Taliban and affiliated jihadist fighters in North Waziristan, seeking to deprive them of safe havens from which to launch attacks in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Punjab has traditionally been more peaceful than other parts of Pakistan. Sharif’s opponents have accused him of tolerating militancy in return for peace in his province, a charge he strongly denies.
Last year, a bomb killed a popular Pakistani provincial minister and at least eight others when it destroyed the minister’s home in Punjab.
