Pakistan is mourning the deaths of more than 70 people including 29 children in a suicide attack in a Lahore park which within faction of a second turned into a carnage sight on Sunday .
The bombing of the amusement park in Lahore on Easter is the bloodiest attack on minorities in Pakistan since the 2013 Peshawar church bombing that killed more than 80 people.
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.
Meanwhile in a late night operation, Lahore police took more than 20 “suspected people” into custody as well. The regional government has announced three-day mourning.
It has also closed all public parks for indefinite period in Lahore. Sunday’s attack also served as deadly reminder of the December 2014 Peshwar carnage which targeted a school and claimed 134 innocent lives of children .
Minister in Punjab’s Province Bilal Yaseen has said that the death toll is likely to increase as many admitted in hospital may succumb to injuries.
Condemning the attack in strongest possible terms, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to his Pakistan counterpart over the phone and expressed condolence over the loss.
On Monday Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif accompanied by Punjab Province Chief Minister Shahbaz Shareef and Interior Minister met the injured in hospital.