Blasts in Lahore

3/28/2016 5:08:49 AM

(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The government of Pakistan must continue its campaign until terrorism is defeated.

Terrorists have struck Pakistan again. In a gruesome attack at least 65 people were killed in a suicide bombing in Gulshan-i-Iqbal Park of Iqbal Town and over 250 were injured. The attack took place at a children’s park where a large number of families especially women and children were present and was claimed by the Taliban faction Jamaat-ul-Ahrar.

The choice of the city for the attacks and the scale of casualties show the terrorists wanted to send a clear message to the government of Nawaz Sherif which has unleashed a no holds barred campaign against terrorists. Residents of Lahore love the city for its relative calm and by choosing the city the extremists have sought to prove that they can strike anywhere in Pakistan. “We want to send this message to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that we have entered Lahore. He can do what he wants but he won’t be able to stop us. Our suicide bombers will continue these attacks” said a spokesman for the faction. In another chilling message he said the target of its attack was Pakistan’s Christian community. Minorities like the Shias Ahmediyas and Christians have borne the brunt of terrorist attacks. And the country is plagued by a venomous mix of Taliban insurgency criminal gangs and sectarian violence.

Punjab has traditionally been more peaceful than other parts of Pakistan so peaceful that Sharif’s opponents have even accused him of tolerating militancy in return for peace in his province. But yesterday’s blasts have shattered this peace.

Terrorist attacks are frequent in Pakistan in which scores of people are killed. In January a Taliban gunmen attacked a university in Charsadda killing at least 21. The terrorist networks are so widespread and deep-rooted the government machinery has failed to uproot them. But the government has determined and unwavering recently in its battle and terrorists have only reacted with more revenge attacks.

But the government and people of Pakistan must remain unfazed. This is a battle that can stop only with the victory of one side – that of the government and people of Pakistan. The international community stands with them in solidarity.

Also the recent wave of atrocities – from the bloodbath in Beirut to and the massacre in Paris and Brussels – reveals that the terrorists have taken the war outside the battlefronts of Syria and Iraq. The frequency of attacks can go up before they go down because an increasingly desperate IS will cause more terror as they are being pummeled in Syria and Iraq where they hold territories. Syrian forces yesterday took full control of the IS-held city of Palmyra and in Iraq too they are suffering setbacks. Terrorists will be on the run all over the world and can plot revenge attacks.

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