More than 5,000 people arrested after Easter bombings

(Baonghean.vn) - Pakistani authorities have arrested more than 5,000 suspects, then released most of them, just within 2 days since a suicide bomber attacked a park in the eastern city of Lahore on Easter, killing at least 70 people.

Forensic workers search for evidence at the site of an explosion outside a public park on Sunday in Lahore, Pakistan on March 28. Photo: Reuters.

Rana Sanaullah, the Punjab provincial minister for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s ruling party, said on March 29 that investigators were holding 216 suspects for further questioning. “After the additional questioning is over, we will get more information about them. If anyone is found guilty, he will be convicted,” he said.

Details of the raids targeting suspected Islamist extremists came as the Taliban faction that claimed responsibility for the attack issued a fresh threat on March 29.

“Everyone will have their turn in this war, especially the Pakistani media,” Ehsanullah Ehsan, a spokesman for Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, tweeted. “We are just waiting for the right moment.”

The Easter bombing was the deadliest since a 2014 Taliban school massacre that killed 134 students. Sunday’s attack, which killed 29 children, showed that militants remain capable of carrying out serious attacks despite a military siege on their strongholds in the northwest.

“Let Nawaz Sharif know that this war has now reached his doorstep,” Ehsan wrote.

Lahore is the capital of Punjab, the richest and most populous province, and Mr Sharif's political heartland.

Sanaullah said at least 160 raids had been carried out by police, counter-terrorism and intelligence agents, and confirmed that army and paramilitary forces would be used in the upcoming operations: “This operation will involve all law enforcement agencies.”

Military and government officials said on March 28 that the army is preparing to launch a new paramilitary anti-terror crackdown in Punjab.

The move, which has yet to be officially announced, sees the civilian government once again granting special powers to the military to fight Islamist militants.

Pakistanis gathered on March 28 to condemn Sunday's suicide bombing in Lahore, Pakistan. Pakistan's prime minister vowed on March 28 to eliminate those responsible for the terrorist attacks. Photo: AP.

Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, a group that has pledged allegiance to IS, has carried out five major attacks in Pakistan since December 2015.

In a speech broadcast on national television on the evening of March 28, Mr. Sharif vowed to continue hunting down the gunmen.

The government also announced that Mr. Sharif would cancel his planned trip to the United States to attend the Nuclear Security Summit scheduled to open on March 31.

Pakistan's security agencies have long been accused of providing funds to some Islamist militants to use in support of their goals in Afghanistan and against longtime rival India.

In recent years, Pakistan has cracked down on movements targeting its people and institutions, including the Pakistani Taliban, which seeks to overthrow the government and impose strict Islamic law.

Thu Giang

(According to Reuters)