Explosion kills 60 during Easter celebrations in Pakistan, hundreds injured

ISLAMABAD — A breakaway faction of the militant Taliban group in Pakistan has claimed responsibility for an Easter Sunday bomb attack on a park in the eastern city of Lahore that killed 60 people, and wounded 300.

Ahsanullah Ahsan, spokesman for Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, told the Associated Press Sunday that a suicide bomber with the faction deliberately targeted the Christian community. He warned that more attacks would follow.

Senior police officer Haider Ashraf says the explosion took place close to the children's rides in Gulshan-e-Iqbal park. He says the explosion appeared to have been a suicide bombing, but investigations were ongoing. The area was crowded with Christians celebrating the Easter holidays, he said.

The chief minister of Punjab province, Shahbaz Sharif, has announced three days mourning and pledged to ensure that those involved in the attack are brought to trial.