A suicide bomber blew himself up among a crowd at a public park in eastern Pakistan yesterday, killing 65 people and wounding over 315.
Most of the dead and injured were women and children, said Mohamed Usman, chief administrator in the city of Lahore, where the attack took place.
The death toll may go up as some of the injured people are in a critical condition, Khawaja Salman Rafique, health adviser of the central Punjab province, said.
The bomber targeted the children’s play area as people were leaving the park in the evening, police official Haider Ashraf said.
The attack took place as Christians in Pakistan celebrated the festival of Easter.
Indian Prime Minister Naredra Modi called his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif to condemn the attack.
The US described the terrorist attack as “cowardly” and pledged to work with Pakistan and other partners in the region to “root out the scourge of terrorism,” White House spokesman Ned Price said.
“The US stands with the people and government of Pakistan at this difficult hour,” Price added.
Soon after the attack, the Punjab government ordered all public parks to be closed and announced three days of mourning in the province. The main shopping areas were shut