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| Scores killed in explosion near family park in Lahore | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| More than 60 people have been killed in an explosion at a public park in the Pakistani city of Lahore, rescue officials have said. The blast in the parking area of Gulshan-e-Iqbal park on Sunday, which police believe to be a suicide bombing, happened just outside the exit gate and feet away from a children’s play area. According to Khawaja Salman Rafique, the health adviser for Punjab province, most of the dead and injured are women and children. | |
| A spokesman for the Punjab government said the attack had killed 60 people and injured 300. Zaeem Qadri added that the chief minister of Punjab province, Shahbaz Sharif, had announced three days of mourning and pledged to ensure that those involved in the attack were brought to trial. | A spokesman for the Punjab government said the attack had killed 60 people and injured 300. Zaeem Qadri added that the chief minister of Punjab province, Shahbaz Sharif, had announced three days of mourning and pledged to ensure that those involved in the attack were brought to trial. |
| A senior local police officer, Haider Ashraf, said the explosion appeared to have been a suicide bombing, but that investigations were ongoing. The area was crowded with Christians celebrating the Easter holidays, he added, but it was not yet clear whether the attack was specifically targeted at Pakistan’s Christian minority. | |
| The blast happened in prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s political heartland of Punjab. Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation of 190 million people, has been plagued by a Taliban insurgency, criminal gangs and sectarian violence. Punjab is its biggest and wealthiest province. | The blast happened in prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s political heartland of Punjab. Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation of 190 million people, has been plagued by a Taliban insurgency, criminal gangs and sectarian violence. Punjab is its biggest and wealthiest province. |
| In 2014, Pakistan launched an offensive against the Taliban and affiliated fighters in North Waziristan, in a bid to destroy safe havens from which jihadis could launch attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan. | In 2014, Pakistan launched an offensive against the Taliban and affiliated fighters in North Waziristan, in a bid to destroy safe havens from which jihadis could launch attacks in 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 that he strongly denies. Last year, however, a bomb in a popular Pakistani provincial minister’s home in Punjab was detonated, killing him and at least eight others. | 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 that he strongly denies. Last year, however, a bomb in a popular Pakistani provincial minister’s home in Punjab was detonated, killing him and at least eight others. |