UNITED NATIONS, Mar 28: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has “strongly” condemned the “appalling” suicide bombing at a park in Lahore where Christians were celebrating Easter and asked Pakistan to take steps to ensure protection of civilians including minority communities.
Ban strongly condemned the suicide bombing on Easter Sunday at Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park in Lahore that killed over 70 people and wounded more than 300, including many women and children.
“The Secretary-General calls for the perpetrators of this appalling terrorist act to be brought swiftly to justice, consistent with human rights obligations,” said a statement issued by his spokesperson here yesterday.
The UN chief urged the Pakistani government to do its “utmost to put in place protective measures to ensure the personal security of all individuals, including religious minority communities living in the country.”
UN General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft called the bombing a “horrific murder” of children, men and women and said he was “appalled and dismayed” by the attack.
“The targeting of so many innocent people including many families at Gulshan-e-Iqbal park shows an utter contempt for humanity…Acts of terrorism are unjustifiable regardless of their motivation and terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to national and international peace and security,” he said in a statement.
He emphasised that such terror acts only serve to strengthen the resolve of governments the world over to find and prosecute the individuals responsible.
A large number of people including Christians were present in the Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park in Iqbal Town area of Lahore when the powerful blast occurred in the evening, leaving many in a pool of blood.
The brutal attack by a suicide bomber — believed to be in his 20s — was claimed by the Jamaatul Ahrar, a splinter group of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). (PTI)
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