Easter Sunday this year was not without tragedy—a suicide bomber set off an explosion in Lahore, Pakistan, killing at least 69 people and wounding about 340 more, according to The New York Times. The Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack.
The Easter attack targeted Christians celebrating the holiday at one of the largest parks in the city, Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park. Even worse, the attacker detonated the bomb nearby a children’s swing set. According to the BBC, Hasan Imran was nearby when the blast occurred. He said, “The flames were so high they reached above the trees and I saw bodies flying in the air.” Reuters reported that at least 29 of those killed were children.
The New York Times also interviewed a 10-year-old boy who saw the blast. “I was standing near the roller coaster when [it] occurred,” he said. “I saw fire afterward. There were a lot of people in the park. It was so crowded that people had to break the boundary wall near the gate to cross over and run away.”
Jamaat-e-Ahrar, which is a faction of the Taliban within Pakistan, said in a statement that they were responsible for the crime. The BBC reported that Ehansullah Ehsan, the group’s spokesperson, said, “We claim responsibility for the attack on Christians as they were celebrating Easter.” According to Reuters, this is the terror group’s fifth bombing since December in Pakistan.
The country’s Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, has since denounced the attack. The New York Times wrote that Sharif visited a hospital in Lahore to grieve with victims before he met with other members of the government.
“Our resolve as a nation and as a government is getting stronger, and the cowardly enemy is trying for soft targets,” he said during the meeting. “Our goal is not only to eliminate terror infrastructure but also the extremist mind-set, which is a threat to our way of life.”
This violence came at the same time as chaos elsewhere in Pakistan. Protesters have been camped in Islamabad, the nation’s capital, to show support of Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, who killed former governor Salmaan Taseer. According to The New York Times, Taseer wanted to change the blasphemy laws in Pakistan, which is considered criminal to much of the country. Qadri was later executed for killing Taseer—a move that made Qadri a martyr to those protesters in Islamabad. Many of these protests included setting vehicles on fire and damaging public property.
Sharif called for a three-day period of mourning in the province of Punjab (where Lahore is located).
For those of us lucky enough to celebrate our holidays in the safety and comfort of home, we cannot show enough support and solidarity to the victims of Sunday’s attack.