Full Condemnation of an Easter Sunday Attack upon Christianity in Pakistan

A faction of the Pakistani Taliban that has pledged loyalty to the Islamic State(IS) has claimed responsibility for a vile suicide attack upon Christians in Lahore, Pakistan, on Easter Sunday. In the violent bombing at a popular park, 70 people were killed -  including 29 children, and more than 300 injured as many had gathered in celebration of Easter.

The Pakistani government has condemned the attack and has since carried out numerous raids in and around Punjab province, Pakistan's wealthiest, seeking militants and extremists of the group, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, which has now claimed responsibility for five bombings in Pakistan since last December.

Sunday's attack specifically targeted Christians according to the guilty terror group and the horror of Lahore underscores that the extremist threat in Pakistan is not abating but increasing and evolving to include specific attacks upon Christians living in Pakistan's Muslim majority community. Some 80 people were killed when a Christian church was bomb in Pakistan in 2013. Pakistan has been rendered insecure for the past 15 years as a result of extremist attacks that have rocketed the country in fear.

The Easter Sunday terror at Lahore underscores the length and level of violence that extremists would take to disrupt normalcy and peace. Such atrocities must be condemned and the guilty brought to full justice. The free world stands today with the innocent people of Pakistan.