At least 64 deaths after a suicide attack in a Lahore park
Lahore (AsiaNews) - At least 64 people were killed in a suicide attack in the Gulshan-i-Iqbal park in a residential area of Lahore. The explosion took place at dusk, when there were many people walking near the exit door and close to the children’s play area.
The attack was claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Jamaatul Ahrar, one of several groups of local Taliban. The police said they had found the suicide murderer's head and found many, tha shrapnel that with the explosion injured at least 200 people.
Eyewitnesses interviewed by the Dawn newspaper say that there were many people in the park at that hour, because of the Easter Sunday, recognized as a holiday by the Punjab Province, and the upcoming evening market. Some suspect the attack was directed against Christians, , but for the time being there is nothing to confirm this sectarian aspect of the killing.
Ambulances, rickshaws and taxis used to transport the wounded to the hospital, had to cross heavy traffic jam.
According to people who were present, the park, while having a lot of entrance gates, did not have any surveillance.
For years, the Taliban and the army had found a way to live with respect to each other and to each own areas of influence, until the Taliban claimed an area of the North-West as their territory, excerpted in Pakistan. In 2014 the army launched an offensive to reduce the power of al-Qaeda and Taliban in the Northwest.
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