Pakistani Easter bombing death toll rising

Screen capture from ABCNews.com
By Diana Chandler - Posted at Baptist Press:

LAHORE, Pakistan (BP) -- The death toll is rising from a suicide bombing targeting Christians in a crowded park on Easter Sunday in Lahore, Pakistan, with at least 75 dead and more than 368 wounded, 138 of them critically, based on reports from Morning Star News and CNN.

Already claiming responsibility for the evening attack and professing to have targeted Christians is the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar terrorist group, a splinter faction of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) that has professed allegiance to ISIS.

"We claim responsibility for the attack on Christians as they were celebrating Easter," Jamaat-ul-Ahrar spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said in a statement the group released shortly after the bombing.

"It was part of our annual martyrdom attacks we have started this year," he said, threatening that the attacks "will continue throughout this year."

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