28 Mar 2016 - 6:24pm
Deadly blast hits Lahore, Pakistan
SBS World News Radio: A Taliban splinter group has claimed responsibility for a deadly suicide bombing targeting Christians in eastern Pakistan.
By Manny Tsigas, Presented by Kristina Kukolja
28 Mar 2016 - 3:00 PM
UPDATED 28 MINS AGO
A Taliban splinter group has claimed responsibility for a deadly suicide bombing targeting Christians in eastern Pakistan.
At least 65 people have been killed and more than 250 wounded, most of them women and children who had gathered at a public park in Lahore.
Gulshan e Iqbal Park has long been a popular site for members of Lahore's Christian community.
Hundreds had gathered there to celebrate the Easter weekend when a suspected suicide blast erupted at its main gate, just metres from the children's swings.
Witnesses describe seeing body parts strewn across the parking lot shortly afterward the explosion.
One witness says the blast was so powerful that he saw bodies flying in the air, with flames high enough to tower above nearby trees.
This woman, named Hameeda, says the explosion killed her son.
(Translated)"Oh, my 22-year-old son! Oh, father of my grandchildren! My son has a two-year-old daughter. Oh, my God, You should have left my son, not me."
The blast happened near a number of food carts.
This man, named Mustapha, says he had walked away from the area just before the explosion but the fate of his friend remains unclear.
(Translated)"I came here with my friend. I had moved from this place and suddenly heard an explosion. My friend is not answering the phone, and I don't know where he is. His name is Ahsan. I called him two or three times, but he is not answering the phone."
The casualties were so severe that taxis and rickshaws were used to transport the dead and injured.
Scenes like this are nothing new to Pakistan, with militants often attacking Christians and other religious minorities over the past decade.
Christian community leader Karman Michael has condemned the attack.
"We are really, really sad and feeling so upset, because it's the day of our worship and the terrorists have attacked on the innocent people. So we strongly condemn it. And I would like to say that it is our responsibility as a nation that we have to face all these circumstances."
In the past, Punjab province had been spared the worst of the violence.
But now the Taliban faction Jamaat-ul-Ahrar has claimed responsibility for striking at the heart of Pakistan's largest and wealthiest province.
It is also the political powerbase of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Atlantic Council political analyst Shuja Nawaz has told Al Jazeera the bombing directly defies government attempts to fight sectarianism and hate speech through a national action plan.
"It is quite clear that the extreme right-wing militants of Sunni Islam, which are actually divided into two groups that often fight each other, are now converging on trying to get the maximum amount of public space. By targeting the minority groups, they're basically challenging the government of Prime Minister Sharif in his own hometown and in the Punjab, where his government runs the provincial assembly."
A member of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, Abdul Hameed Gul, says all public parks in Punjab have been closed.
The province has declared three days of mourning.
(Translated) "The chief minister of Punjab is monitoring the situation minute by minute after this sad incident in Lahore. The entire Punjab government and all its agencies are active. All hospitals have been issued with red alerts, and doctors have had their leave cancelled."
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