begin quote from:
(CNN)A
splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for a
deadly attack on Easter Sunday, saying it intentionally targeted
Christians. The suicide blast in the eastern Pakistan city of Lahore
killed at least 67 …
In Pakistan, Taliban's attack on Easter targets Christians; 67 people killed
Story highlights
- Splinter group of Pakistani Taliban claims responsibility for the bombing
- Suicide bombing hits park Sunday evening when many families are out
(CNN)A
splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for a
deadly attack on Easter Sunday, saying it intentionally targeted
Christians.
The suicide blast in the eastern Pakistan city of Lahore killed at least 67 people, a local government spokesman told CNN.
More than 300 others were injured, police official Haider Ashraf said.
The
explosion ripped through the heart of Lahore on Sunday evening, at a
time when many families were at the city's Gulshan Iqbal Park to
celebrate the Easter holiday. Many women and children were among the
victims.
8 photos: Scores killed in Pakistan blast
Rescuers and officials gather at the site of the blast.
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8 photos: Scores killed in Pakistan blast
Pakistani rescuers and officials gather at the blast site.
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8 photos: Scores killed in Pakistan blast
Rescuers load a victim into an ambulance.
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8 photos: Scores killed in Pakistan blast
A victim is loaded into an ambulance near the site of the blast.
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8 photos: Scores killed in Pakistan blast
Rescue
workers and police gather near the site where a suicide bomber blew
himself up in a crowded park in Lahore, Pakistan, on Sunday, March 27.
The blast killed at least 60 people and injured 200, according to health
adviser for Punjab province Khawaja Salman Rafique.
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8 photos: Scores killed in Pakistan blast
A man carries an injured child away from the scene of the blast.
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8 photos: Scores killed in Pakistan blast
Relatives and emergency workers carry an injured woman to the hospital.
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8 photos: Scores killed in Pakistan blast
Rescuers use a stretcher to shift a body from a bomb blast site.
Hide Caption
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8 photos: Scores killed in Pakistan blast
Rescuers and officials gather at the site of the blast.
Hide Caption
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8 photos: Scores killed in Pakistan blast
Pakistani rescuers and officials gather at the blast site.
Hide Caption
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8 photos: Scores killed in Pakistan blast
Rescuers load a victim into an ambulance.
Hide Caption
7 of 8
8 photos: Scores killed in Pakistan blast
A victim is loaded into an ambulance near the site of the blast.
Hide Caption
8 of 8
8 photos: Scores killed in Pakistan blast
Rescue
workers and police gather near the site where a suicide bomber blew
himself up in a crowded park in Lahore, Pakistan, on Sunday, March 27.
The blast killed at least 60 people and injured 200, according to health
adviser for Punjab province Khawaja Salman Rafique.
Hide Caption
1 of 8
8 photos: Scores killed in Pakistan blast
A man carries an injured child away from the scene of the blast.
Hide Caption
2 of 8
8 photos: Scores killed in Pakistan blast
Relatives and emergency workers carry an injured woman to the hospital.
Hide Caption
3 of 8
8 photos: Scores killed in Pakistan blast
Rescuers use a stretcher to shift a body from a bomb blast site.
Hide Caption
4 of 8
Ehsanullah
Ehsan, a spokesman for the splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban
known as Jamat-ul-Ahrar vowed such attacks would continue.
Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif strongly condemned the blast.
International condemnation
Indian
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has worked to thaw the icy relations
between the two neighbors, 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 state-run agency, the
Associated Press of Pakistan.
The United States 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," National Security
Council spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
History of violence
In March 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 that attack too and warned of more to come.
The
explosions, which struck the Nishtar Colony area in the city of Lahore,
wounded at least 78 people, Dr. Muhammed Saeed Sohbin, medical
superintendent at Lahore General Hospital, said then.
In 2013, suicide bombers struck a church in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing more than 80 people.
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