News / Pakistan

Pakistan to intensify crackdown on militants after Lahore bombing

Monday, 28 March 2016 5:17 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 28 March 2016 5:15 PM ]

Pakistani civil society members light candles for suicide blast victims in Lahore on March 28, 2016. (AFP photo)

Pakistan is set to heavily crack down on the militants in Punjab Province following a deadly bombing that claimed the lives of at least 70 people in the province’s eastern city of Lahore.

A bomb explosion outside a park in the city of Lahore, killed at least 70 people, mostly women and children on Sunday. The area was crowded with Christians celebrating the Easter holidays, and many families were leaving the park when the blast occurred.

The attack was claimed by the so-called Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a faction of Taliban.

A senior security official based in Lahore said on Monday that the special crackdown would grant extraordinary powers to paramilitary Rangers in order to launch raids and question suspects.

The decision echoed a similar case in the city of Karachi where Rangers have been granted special powers for over two years, according to the source.

"The technicalities are yet to be worked out. There are some legal issues also with bringing in Rangers, but the military and government are on the same page," the source told Reuters, asking not to be named.

Two government officials and another military official also acknowledged the move.

Following the bombing, the army, intelligence agencies and Rangers launched several raids around Punjab, military spokesman, General Asim Bajwa, said, adding that the raids resulted in the arrest of an unspecified number of suspects and the seizure of arms caches.

The Punjab government announced three days of mourning in the province following the attack.

Punjab Province, where the city is located, has traditionally experienced more calm compared to the rest of Pakistan, which has been beleaguered by militancy waged by Pakistani pro-Taliban militants and criminal activities.

On March 16, at least 17 people lost their lives when a powerful bomb explosion hit a bus carrying government employees in Pakistan’s troubled northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa near the border with Afghanistan.

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