By: RFE/RL
Source: RFE/RL
MV Editor’s Note:
The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, “Whoever wrongs a minority citizen (mu’ahid) or slights him, or forces him to do more than he can, or takes anything from him that he isn’t pleased to give, then I shall be the advocate of that minority citizen on the Day of Judgment.” Then the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) pointed to his chest and declared, “Indeed whoever kills a minority citizen protected by Allah and protected by the Messenger of Allah, then Allah will prohibit even the scent of Paradise from that person and the scent of Paradise is found a distance of 70 years journey from it. (Sunan al Bayhaqi al Kabir)
That hadith is enough condemnation against such dastardly and treacherous atrocities. May Allah grant us uprightness.
RFE/RL: Pakistani authorities have to hunt down perpetrators behind an Easter Sunday bombing in the city of Lahore that killed more than 70 people and injured some 300 others.
Army chief Raheel Sharif said overnight that the military would step up an offensive against the Islamist militants that claimed responsibility for the attack.
The military said on March 28 that it had carried out a series of raids in Lahore and nearby areas following the attack, arresting several suspects.
“Number of suspect terrorists and facilitators arrested and huge cache of arms and ammunition recovered,” military spokesman Asim Bajwa said in a Twitter post.
He said that operations “to nab the terrorists in the aftermath of Lahore blast” are continuing.
A Taliban splinter group claimed responsibility for the blast that ripped through crowds near a children’s play area in Gulshan Iqbal Park, where many had gathered to celebrate Easter on March 27.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar said it had targeted Christians and vowed to carry out more such attacks on schools, colleges, and other government and military interests.
The group said the attack was a “message” to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who views the Punjab province and its capital, Lahore, as a political stronghold.
Police said the death toll had risen to 72 on March 28, with 29 children among the dead.With hundreds injured, the toll was expected to rise.
Senior police official Haider Ashraf said the majority of the dead were Muslims, who were also in the crowded park.
The regional government has announced three days of mourning with the national flag flying at half-mast.
Schools and markets were closed and traffic was thin on the roads across the province on March 28.
Prime Minister Sharif visited injured people being treated at a hospital, his office said.
Earlier, Sharif had expressed “grief and sorrow over the sad demise of innocent lives.”
His Indian counterpart Narendra Modi telephoned to say “the people of India stand with their Pakistani brethren in this hour of grief,” state media reported.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attack, calling it an “appalling” act of terrorism.
The Vatican also decried the bombing, calling it “fanatical violence against Christian minorities.”
The White House denounced the apparent suicide attack as “cowardly” and pledged to work with Pakistan to defeat those who terrorize the country.
“The United States condemns in the strongest terms today’s appalling terrorist attack in Lahore, Pakistan,” Ned Price, a spokesman for U.S. President Barack Obama’s National Security Council, said in a statement.
In the capital, Islamabad, security was tight on March 28 around the parliament and other strategic points to prevent riots by militant protesters who have been rallying there since the previous day.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, which has publicly supported the Islamic State extremist group, also took responsibility for the twin bombings of a Christian Church in Lahore last year. At least 14 people were killed in those bombings.
Overall levels of militant violence in Pakistan have fallen since the army launched a major offensive against Taliban and Al-Qaeda strongholds in the northwest border areas in 2014, though militants continue to stage major attacks occasionally.
With reporting by Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa, and Dawn.com
Copyright (c) 2015. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.