Pakistani officials ... 216 suspects are in custody pending further investigation, said Rana Sanaullah, a state minister for Punjab province from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s ruling party. Picture: AFP.
MORE than 200 people have been detained in Pakistan in the hunt for those behind the Easter Sunday bombing that killed at least 70 people in Lahore.
Punjab’s law minister said those held were among more than 5,000 questioned in a sweeping counter-terror offensive.
Details of the sweeping raids — aimed at anyone suspected of Islamist extremism — came as the Taliban faction claiming responsibility for the attack issued a new threat, singling out the media.
Sweeping raids ... Pakistan's army arrested hundreds of suspects after a Taliban suicide bomber targeting Christians over Easter killed 72 people. Picture: AFP.Source:AFP
“Everyone will get their turn in this war, especially the slave Pakistani media,” Ehsanullah Ehsan, spokesman for Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, tweeted.
“We are just waiting for the appropriate time.” The Easter bombing was Pakistan’s deadliest attack since a 2014 school massacre claimed by the Taliban killed 134 students.
Sunday’s attack, which included 29 children among the dead, showed the militants can still cause carnage despite military raids on their northwestern strongholds.
Lahore is the capital of Punjab, Pakistan’s richest and most populous province and Prime Minister Sharif’s political heartland. Sanaullah said at least 160 raids were carried out by a mixture of police, counter-terrorism and intelligence agents and confirmed that army and paramilitary forces would be used in future operations.
Pakistani police ... The sweeping raids were aimed at anyone suspected of Islamist extremism. Picture: AFP.Source:AP
Military and government officials on Monday said that the military was preparing to launch a new paramilitary counter-terrorism crackdown in Punjab.
The move, which is yet to be formally announced, represents the civilian government once again granting special powers to the military to fight Islamist militants.
Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, which once declared loyalty to Islamic State, has carried out five major attacks in Pakistan since December. In a televised address to the nation on Monday night, Sharif vowed to continue pursuing militants.
Sharif has cancelled a planned trip to the US to attend the Nuclear Security Summit, due to begin on Thursday.
Pakistan’s security agencies have long been accused of nurturing some Islamist militants to use for help in pursuing objectives in Afghanistan and against old rival India.
