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Lahore attack: Pakistan PM Sharif demands swift action on terror

Child's funeral - 28 MarchPakistan PM Nawaz Sharif has stressed winning the fight against terrorism, a day after more than 70 people died in a suicide attack in Lahore.
At a meeting of security officials, Mr Sharif said the nation's resolve to deal with militants was strengthening.
A number of arrests were made and weapons seized in five raids by security forces, the army said.
Taliban splinter group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar said it carried out the attack against Christians celebrating Easter.
At least 300 people were injured, with officials saying they expected the death toll to rise.
The area was more crowded than usual, as members of Lahore's minority Christian community had gathered to celebrate Easter at a funfair in the park.
However, most of those who died in the attack were Muslims.
At least one funeral, of 11-year-old Christian boy Sahil Pervez, was held on Monday.

Analysis: M Ilyas Khan, BBC News, Islamabad

The bombing of the amusement park in Lahore on Easter Sunday was the bloodiest on Christians in Pakistan since the 2013 Peshawar church bombing that killed more than 80 people.
But many believe there may be a wider context to the latest attack - 27 March was the deadline set by an alliance of more than 30 religious groups for the provincial government of Punjab to withdraw a new women's rights law they oppose.
And supporters of Mumtaz Qadri, a police guard executed last month for the 2011 killing of a provincial governor who advocated reform of the blasphemy laws, have also launched protests. They brought forward the customary 40th day mourning for Qadri by 13 days to coincide with 27 March and several thousand have now occupied a high-security zone in Islamabad to press demands which include the implementation of Sharia law.
Sunday's carnage in Lahore was claimed by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, an increasingly effective faction of the Pakistani Taliban which has carried out several attacks in the north-western Peshawar valley region during the last few months.Mr Sharif added that intelligence-based operations against militants should be speeded up.
"Terrorists have assassinated my children, sons and daughters in this war and God willing we will wipe them from this country," he said.
Meanwhile army spokesman Gen Asim Bajwa tweeted that security forces had carried out raids in Lahore, Multan and Faisalabad.
A "number of suspect terrorists and facilitators" were arrested and a "huge cache of arms and ammunition" seized, he added.
Meanwhile Facebook has apologised after a programme glitch resulted in users around the world being sent a notification to let friends know they were safe after the attack, meant only for subscribers in the Lahore area.
Facebook had been criticised in the past for deploying the Safety Check application more readily if Westerners are the likely victims.

'Message to Sharif'

The government of Punjab, of which Lahore is the capital, declared a state of emergency in the city and three days of mourning. Other regions declared one day.
Schools and markets in the province were closed on Monday.
Lahore is one of Pakistan's most liberal and wealthy cities. It is Mr Sharif's political powerbase and has seen relatively few terror attacks in recent years.
A spokesman for Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, Ehsanullah Ehsan, said the group wanted to send a message to Mr Sharif that they "have entered Lahore", and threatened further attacks.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar is a breakaway group from Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan. It has carried out several other attacks on Pakistani civilians and security forces in recent months.
Officials inspect the scene of the attack in LahoreImage copyrightEPA
Image captionInvestigators searched through debris for evidence
Relatives of victims at a hospital in Lahore, Pakistan (27 March 2016)Image copyrightEPA
Image captionThe park was more crowded than usual, as Lahore's Christians celebrated Easter Day at its funfair
Police on guard in the park in Lahore, PakistanImage copyrightAP
Image captionSecurity was tight after the attack
The explosion, believed to have been carried out by one suicide bomber, hit the main gate to the Gulshan-e-Iqbal park in the early evening, a short distance from the children's playground.
Officials said the device had been packed with ball bearings.
There were scenes of anguish as parents searched for children amid the debris.
Pakistan has suffered regular incidents of Taliban-related violence, sectarian strife and criminal gang activity.

Pakistan's Christians

  • Estimated to make up about 1.6% of the population, they are the second largest minority in Pakistan after Hindus
  • Large population in Karachi but also in the Punjab heartland and the cities of Lahore and Faisalabad, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province particularly in Peshawar city.
  • Majority are descendants of low-caste Hindus who converted under the British Raj
  • Most remain poor menial workers, though there are wealthier Christians who came from Goa and are mainly in Karachi
  • Attacks, including church and hospital bomb blasts and mob attacks on Christian villages, have increased in recent years; the deadliest involved two bombs at a Peshawar church in 2013 which left around 80 dead

Pakistan Taliban faction claims park attack on Lahore Christians

Officials inspect the scene of the attack in LahoreA Taliban splinter group says it carried out a suicide attack on a park in Lahore, Pakistan, which killed more than 70 people, including children.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar said it had targeted Christians celebrating Easter, though police have said they are still investigating the claim.
There were scenes of carnage as parents searched for children amid the debris.
Pakistan's president condemned the attack, and the regional government has announced three days of mourning.
At least 300 people were injured, with officials saying they expected the death toll to rise.
All major hospitals in the area were put on an emergency footing after the blast,early on Sunday evening.
Officials inspect the scene of the attack in LahoreImage copyrightEPA
Image captionThe scene of the attack was littered with debris, which officials were searching through for evidence
Relatives of victims at a hospital in Lahore, Pakistan (27 March 2016)Image copyrightEPA
Image captionThe park was more crowded than usual, as Lahore's Christians celebrated Easter Day at its funfair

Soft target

Lahore is one of Pakistan's most liberal and wealthy cities. It is the political powerbase of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and has seen relatively few terror attacks in recent years.
A spokesman for Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, Ehsanullah Ehsan, said the group wanted to send a message to Mr Sharif that they "have entered Lahore", and threatened further attacks.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar is a breakaway group from Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan. It has carried out several other attacks on Pakistani civilians and security forces in recent months.
Mr Sharif expressed "grief and sorrow over the sad demise of innocent lives". He has postponed a planned trip to the UK.
The explosion, believed to have been carried out by one suicide bomber, hit the main gate to the Gulshan-e-Iqbal park in the early evening, a short distance from the children's playground.
Officials said the device had been packed with ball bearings.
Police on guard in the park in Lahore, PakistanImage copyrightAP
Image captionPolice stood guard at the scene after the attack
The popular was more crowded than usual, as Lahore's minority Christians were celebrating Easter at its funfair.

Pakistan's Christians

  • Estimated to make up about 1.6% of the population, they are the second largest minority in Pakistan after Hindus
  • Large population in Karachi but also in the Punjab heartland and the cities of Lahore and Faisalabad, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province particularly in Peshawar city.
  • Majority are descendants of low-caste Hindus who converted under the British Raj
  • Most remain poor menial workers, though there are wealthier Christians who came from Goa and are mainly in Karachi
  • Attacks, including church and hospital bomb blasts and mob attacks on Christian villages, have increased in recent years; the deadliest was two bombs at a Peshawar church in 2013 which left around 80 dead
One man, who gave his name as Danish, said the park had been so full when he arrived he had not been able to enter.
"We went to a canteen to have something to eat, when there was suddenly a big blast," he told Reuters.
"Everyone went panic, running to all directions. Many of them were blocked at the gate of the park. Dead bodies can be found everywhere."
A man mourns his dead relative in Lahore, PakistanImage copyrightAP
Image captionOfficials have condemned the attack as cowardly
An injured boy is carried to hospital in LahoreImage copyrightAFP
Image captionMany of the dead and wounded were children
Injured man leaves hospital in LahoreImage copyrightEPA
Hasan Imran, 30, a local resident, told Reuters: "When the blast occurred, the flames were so high they reached above the trees and I saw bodies flying in the air."
One man told Pakistan's Geo TV station he was heading towards a fairground ride with his wife and two children when he heard a huge bang and all four of them were thrown to the floor.
Another man, who did not give his name, told the Associated Press he had taken 20 children to hospital, saying: "I can't explain to you the tragic situation."
Police chief Haider Ashraf said the park had been a soft target for the militants, saying that while Pakistan is "in a warlike situation" there had been no specific alert issued for the park.
Shebaz Sharif, the chief minister of Punjab, later tweeted: "Words cannot describe agony we are in to see our children's blood spilled by cowards."
He said that those who target civilians "do not deserve to be called humans" and that Pakistan would "make sure that your terror infrastructure is dismantled completely".
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the attack "appalling", saying the perpetrators should "be brought swiftly to justice".
Pakistan has suffered regular incidents of Taliban-related violence, sectarian strife and criminal gang activity.

Pakistan explosion leaves many dead at Lahore park

Pakistani rescuers and officials gather at a bomb blast site in Lahore 27/03/2016.At least 50 people have been killed and many others injured in an explosion at a park in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore, officials say.
It happened in the early evening when the park was crowded with families.
Police told the BBC it appeared to be a suicide bomb. No group has said it was behind the blast.
There is speculation that Christian families out for the Easter weekend may have been the target, says the BBC's Shaimaa Khalil, in Lahore.
All the major hospitals in the area have been put on an emergency footing, local media report.
The explosion appears to have been at the main gate to the Gulshan-e-Iqbal park in an area where cars are usually left - and a short distance from the children's swings.
Most of the dead and injured are women and children, a senior local police officer told Reuters news agency.
One eyewitness said there was chaos, with a stampede breaking out and children separated from their parents in the rush to escape.
Men mourn the death of their relatives after a blast outside a public park in Lahore 27/03/2016Image copyrightReuters
Image captionDozens of ambulances raced to Gulshan-e-Ishaq park but for many it was too late
Relatives move an injured bomb blast victim to a hospital after a bomb blast in Lahore 27/03/2016Image copyrightAFP
Image captionLarge numbers of people have been injured, and many are said to be in a serious condition
Pakistani women mourn the death of relatives after the Lahore blast 27/03/2016Image copyrightAFP
Image captionMany families had gone to the park
Another told Pakistan's Geo TV station he was heading towards a ride with his wife and two children when he heard a huge bang and all four of them were thrown to the floor.
Facebook has activated its feature for people in Lahore to mark themselves as safe.
Lahore is the capital of Punjab, Pakistan's largest and wealthiest province and the political powerbase of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
grab of facebook safety check page
Pakistan's President Mamnoon Hussain has strongly condemned the explosion and the Punjab government has announced three days of mourning.
Nobel Peace Prize winner and campaigner Malala Yousafzai tweeted that she was "devastated by the senseless killing of innocent people in Lahore."
Pakistan has suffered regular incidents of Taliban-related violence, sectarian strife and criminal gang activity.
Meanwhile in the capital, Islamabad, police fired tear gas at thousands of protesters who marched in support of Islamist gunman Mumtaz Qadri, who they see as a religious hero.
Qadri was hanged last month for the murder of Punjab governor Salman Taseer five years ago.
Mr Taseer had defended a Christian woman jailed on blasphemy charges.
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