A taliban attack in a park in Lahore (Pakistan) has left al least 65 dead and 300 injured this Sunday.
The attack, claimed by a faction of the Taliban Movement of Pakistan (TTP, in its initials in Urdu), Jammat ul Ahrar, was targeted against christians who were celebrating the Easter holidays in the Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park, according a spokesman of the group, Ehsanullah Ehsan, has explained to The Tribune Express.
"It was part of our annual martyrdom attacks we have started this year,” Ehsan has afirmed. He has warned that it was a message for the Pakistan primer minister, Nawaf Sahrif.
“We had been waiting for this occasion... we want to convey... to the prime minister that we we have arrived in Punjab and we will reach you", he has threatened.
Dozens of ambulances have raced to the park, while hundreds of citizens have gathered outside the hospitals to give blood, including the PM of Punjab, Shaij Zayed.
Soon after of the attack, the Government of this region has ordered the close of all the children parks and has declared three days of mourning. Next Monday the schools will be kept closed in Lahore, the most populated town in Punjab, which is located near of the border with India.
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the main taliban group in the country, was set up in 2007 and has operated both in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Since its origins, it has kept in touch with the terrorist group Al Qaeda. The Pakistan authorities has struggled this sort of insurgence since 2004. The taliban have carried out several attacks to try to overthrow the Government.
Condemnations to the attack
"I'm shocked by the terrorist attack in Lahore. My thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims.
We will do what we can to help", the British primer minister, David Cameron, has written in his Twitter.
The Pakistani Oscar-winner and young activist who survived to an taliban attack Malala Yousafzaihas also reacted quickly: "I am devasted by the senseless killing of innocent people today in Lahore. My heart goes out to the victims and their families and friends.
I condem this attack in the strongest possible terms. We stand together with the families of the victims. Pakistan and the world mus unite. Every life is precious and must be respected and protected".
