Worshippers Killed in Pakistan Church Bombings
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - At least 14 people have been killed and dozens more wounded in bombings targeting two churches in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore.
A Punjab Police spokesperson told Al Jazeera that a Roman Catholic church and a Christ Church in Lahore's Youhanabad area were hit in Sunday's suicide attacks.
At least 70 people were wounded, said Zahid Pervez, the provincial director general of health.
Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, a Pakistani Taliban (TTP) splinter group, claimed responsibility for both the attacks.
The group appeared to have timed the attacks to cause maximum devastation, as the two churches were packed with Christians attending Sunday services when the bombs went off.
A spokesman for the faction said it was the work of two suicide bombers.
"The Tehreek-e-Taliban Jamaat-ur-Ahrar accepts responsibility for the suicide attacks on the churches in Lahore," Ahsanullah Ahsan, a spokesman for the Taliban faction, said in a statement emailed to reporters.
"We promise that until an Islamic system is put into place in Pakistan such attacks will continue. If Pakistan's rulers think they can stop us, they should try to do so," the statement added.
One unidentified witness told Pakistan's Geo television that the main gate to one of the churches targeted was closed so people were using a smaller gate.
"One bomber exploded himself near that gate, that created chaos and during the course there was another blast," he said.
Irfan Ashraf, Lahore's deputy inspector-general of police operations, confirmed that a policeman and a private security guard were among the dead.
He said they gave up their lives to stop the bombers from entering the churches.
In the tense aftermath of the bombings, angry mobs burned to death one person they believed was involved in the attack and tried to lynch another, said Haider Ashraf, deputy inspector general for Lahore.
