On this Easter Sunday, Christians in Lahore mingled with their Muslim neighbors, celebrating in a neighborhood park — taking their children on rides or pushing them on swings. Then, the sound of tragedy.
A blast tore through the park, killing indiscriminately.
But the attack, claimed by a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban, intentionally targeted Christians, the group said.
The suicide blast killed at least 69 people, a local government spokesman told CNN.
More than 341 others were injured, Punjab government spokesman Jehangir Awan said.
Ehsanullah Ehsan, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban offshoot known as Jamat-ul-Ahrar, vowed such attacks would continue.
The explosion came at a poignant time for Pakistan’s Christians, some of whom were in the city’s Gulshan Iqbal Park to celebrate Easter on Sunday evening.
The religious group makes up only 2% of the population, and tensions are high between them and a hardline Muslim core that wants to see a strict interpretation of Islamic law take precedence in Pakistan’s legal system.
‘Dead bodies … everywhere’
One witness named Danish was at the amusement park with his two sisters.
“It was so crowded that there was even no way of entering it,” he told reporters. “There was suddenly a big blast. Everyone panicked, running to all directions. Many of them were blocked at the gate of the park. Dead bodies can be found everywhere.”
He said one of his sisters died; the other was wounded.
“The object (that) hit her looks like a piece of hard iron, and it burned her in the neck,” Danish said.
A Christian man named Sohail said he was there with four of his children and his wife.
“I went to get groceries, but my children insisted that It was the last day of their school holidays so I should take them to Iqbal Park, which I did,” he said.
As Sohail went to get tickets for the park’s rides, the blast occurred.
“My 6-year-old is in critical condition and is in surgery,” he said.
Rizwan Gul said he was waiting for a friend at the park when the explosion occurred.
“I don’t remember anything after that,” he said. “Someone just brought me to the hospital in a rickshaw.”
Lahore’s parks remained closed Monday for security reasons, the deputy commissioner of police said.
Prime Minister: ‘I want more proactive coordination’
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, a Lahore native, condemned the blast and met with law enforcement and intelligence officials Monday.
“Our goal is not only to eliminate terror infrastructure but also the extremist mindset, which is a threat to our way of life,” he said.
“I want more proactive coordination between law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Provinces should speed up intelligence-based operations against terrorists. We must take this war to the doors of terrorist outfits before they are able to hit our innocent countrymen.”
International condemnation
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has worked to thaw the icy relations between his country and Pakistan, called Sharif on Sunday to express his grief over the bombing.
The Indian leader expressed solidarity with Pakistan, the Pakistani state-run news agency reported.
“Modi said coward terrorists had targeted females and kids which was highly condemnable and regrettable,” according to the news agency, the Associated Press of Pakistan.
The United States and Australia also condemned the attack.
“This cowardly act in what has long been a scenic and placid park has killed dozens of innocent civilians and left scores injured,” U.S. National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop echoed the sentiment.
“As Christians worldwide celebrate Easter, a shocking terrorist attack in Lahore, Pakistan, reminds us that terrorism is a global scourge,” she said Monday.
History of violence
In March of last year, suicide bombers attacked a Christian community, also in Lahore, setting off two blasts that killed at least 14 people and wounded dozens more, officials said.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for those attacks. And they warned of more to come.
The explosions, which struck the Nishtar Colony area in the city of Lahore, wounded at least 78 people, a Lahore General Hospital official said at the time.
And in 2013, suicide bombers struck a church in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing more than 80 people.