Punjab launched an ongoing war against Taliban insurgents in the state More than 70 people, including 29 children, have been killed by a Taliban suicide bomber who targeted Christians near a children's playground in a park in Pakistan.
Some 300 people were injured when explosives packed with ball bearings ripped through crowds near the children's swings in the Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park, in Lahore, where many had gathered to celebrate Easter.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a splinter group affiliated with the Pakistani Taliban, has claimed responsibility for the attack, adding: 'The target was Christians.'
Senior police official Haider Ashraf confirmed that the death toll had risen to 72 on Monday morning, adding the majority of the dead were Muslims.
An injured Pakistani child victim of a suicide blast rests in a hospital in Lahore after a suicide bomber attacked a park thronging with families celebrating Easter killed at least 72 people
Rescuers seen helping the injured people at the explosion site, where at least 29 children lost their lives
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a splinter group affiliated with the Pakistani Taliban, has claimed responsibility for the attack
The blast happened a few metres away from children's swings, and most of the victims are believed to be women and children.
Witnesses described children screaming as people carried the injured in their arms, while frantic relatives searched for loved ones. The chief minister of Punjab province, Shahbaz Sharif, has announced three days mourning and pledged to ensure that those involved in the attack are brought to trial.
Nasreen Bibi, the mother of a two-year-old injured in the attack, spoke through tears as she waited for news from the doctors.
'We were just here to have a nice evening and enjoy the weather. May God shower his wrath upon these attackers. What kind of people target little children in a park?'
A girl who was injured in the suicide bomb blast is rushed to a hospital in Lahore in the wake of the bombing
Injured children recover in hospital as the death toll rose to 72 on Monday morning
Bodies were lined up by the side of a fairground ride after the tragic bombing in which 70 people have been killed, and the death toll is expected to rise further
Pakistani emergency workers and police officers gather at the blast site, where 300 people were injured
The blast occurred in the parking area of Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park, a few metres away from children's swings, and most of those hurt and killed are thought to be women and children
ball bearings were found at the blast site, where armed police are still standing guard late into the evening
Men mourn the death of their relatives after a blast outside a public park in Lahore that was attacked
Scenes of distress were seen on the streets as local people came to terms with the anguish of the attack
People in the area rushed to help more than 300 people who were injured in the blast and they are now filling up hospitals nearby
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast but the country is plagued with Taliban insurgents and criminal gangs
The group responsible for the attack was founded by Omar Khalid Korasani, a former Taliban senior leader who broke off from the main group to form the more-hardline organization in 2014.
He re-aligned with the main Pakistani Taliban leadership last year, and the group are currently waging war on the government, which in 2014 vowed to grant no safe haven to terrorists.
The attack happened in the heart of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif political base in Punjab.
In a statement, the group said: 'We claim responsibility for the attack on Christians as they were celebrating Easter.
'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.'
The group was previously responsible for a March 2015 bombing at a Roman Catholic church in Lahore that killed 15 people and injured 70 others.
Today, eyewitnesses said they saw body parts strewn across the parking lot once the dust had settled after the blast.
The army had been called in and soldiers were at the scene helping with rescue operations and security.
Police chief Haider Ashraf said. 'We are in a warlike situation and there is always a general threat but no specific threat alert was received for this place.'
Salman Rafiq, a health adviser to the Punjab government, called on people to donate blood, saying that many of those wounded were in a critical condition.
DAVID CAMERON URGES BRITONS TO STAND UP FOR CHRISTIAN VALUES AND OFFERS AID TO PAKISTAN FOLLOWING TODAY'S BRUTAL BOMBINGS
Prime Minister David Cameron has promised British help for Pakistan after today's bombing in Lahore.
Mr Cameron, who used his Easter message to urge Britons of all faiths to stand up for Christian values, said he was shocked by the attack.
'My thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims. We will do what we can to help,' the PM posted on his Twitter feed.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: 'My thoughts are with the victims and the family of the victims of the horrific attack in Lahore.
'Solidarity with the emergency services there.'
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond wrote on Twitter: 'My thoughts are with victims of Lahore Blast. UK utterly condemns senseless & shocking violence against innocent families.'
Police cordoned off an area where crowds of people still remain, pictured metres away from a fairground ride in the park
Pakistani rescuers use a stretcher to lift a body from a bomb blast site in Lahore which targeted Christians
This man is being led away from the scene in tears, as many mourn the death of loved ones today
The army had been called in and soldiers were at the scene helping with rescue operations and security
Salman Rafiq, a health adviser to the Punjab government, called on people to donate blood, saying that many of those wounded were in a critical condition
A medical superintendent at Jinnah Hospital, who gave his name only as Dr Ashraf, said more than 40 dead bodies had arrived at the hospital.
WHITE HOUSE SLAMS 'COWARDLY ACT' AGAINST 'INNOCENT' PEOPLE
In a statement from the White House, Ned Price, a spokesman for the US National Security Council, said: 'The United States condemns in the strongest terms today's appalling terrorist attack in Lahore, Pakistan.
'This cowardly act in what has long been a scenic and placid park has killed dozens of innocent civilians and left scores injured.'
He added that the country 'stands with the people and government of Pakistan at this difficult hour. We will continue to work with our partners in Pakistan and across the region ... to root out the scourge of terrorism.'
'The number of injured stands at more than 200 people, most of them are in critical condition,' he said. I fear the death toll will rise.'
He described a nightmarish scene at the hospital, with staff treating casualties on floors and in corridors.
Javed Ali, a 35-year-old resident who lives opposite park, said the force of the blast had shattered his home's windows.
'Everything was shaking, there were cries and dust everywhere.
'After ten minutes I went outside. There was human flesh on the walls of our house. People were crying, I could hear ambulances.'
He added: 'It was overcrowded because of Easter, there were a lot of Christians there. It was so crowded I told my family not to go.'
'When the blast occurred, the flames were so high they reached above the trees and I saw bodies flying in the air,' said Hasan Imran, 30, a resident who had gone to Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park for a walk.
The park had been particularly busy on Sunday evening due to the Easter holiday weekend, and ambulances were seen rushing to the blast scene.
A boy who was injured in a suicide bomb, after which the health minister called on people to give blood so that they could treat the hundreds of casualties
An injured woman is taken to a hospital after a suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowded park
Police cordoned off an area where crowds of people still remain, pictured metres away from a fairground ride in the park.
There was human flesh on the walls of our house
Salman Rafique, a health adviser for the Punjab provincial government, put the death toll at least 52 people.
'Most of the dead and injured are women and children,' said Mustansar Feroz, police superintendent for the area in which the park is located.
Media footage showed children and women crying and screaming and rescue officials, police and bystanders carrying injured people to ambulances and private cars.
In 2014, Pakistan launched an offensive against Taliban and affiliated jihadist fighters in North Waziristan, seeking to deprive them of safe havens from which to launch attacks in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Punjab has traditionally been more peaceful than other parts of Pakistan. Sharif's opponents have accused him of tolerating militancy in return for peace in his province, a charge he strongly denies.
Last year, a bomb killed a popular Pakistani provincial minister and at least eight others when it destroyed the minister's home in Punjab
People were seen picking up the debris which was scattered on the ground after the bomb went off
People were carried out of the blast zone unconscious and eyewitnesses saw body parts strewn all over the floor after the bloody attack
Ambulances rushed to the scene to help the injured and dozens of people were taken to hospitals nearby
A Pakistani man mourns at a hospital after yet another brutal attack in the country, which has been plagued by bombings for the last eight years
Many could be seen weeping in the city, which has paid a high price for its policy of offering no quarter to the Pakistani Taliban, which has resulted in a terrible death toll
A STATE PLAGUED BY TERROR: THE BRUTAL AND UNRELENTING HISTORY OF KILLER BOMBINGS IN A COUNTRY TORN APART BY INSURGENTS
2007 - October 18: Bomb attacks targeting former prime minister Benazir Bhutto kill 139 people in Karachi as she returns to Pakistan for the first time in eight years. She was killed in another gun and suicide attack on December 27.
2008 - August 21: Twin suicide attacks kill 64 people outside Pakistan's main arms factory in Wah near Islamabad.
September 20: Sixty people are killed when a suicide truck bomb brings down part of the five-star Marriott hotel in Islamabad.
2009 - October 28: A car bomb destroys a market in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing 125 people.
2010 - January 1: A suicide car bomb kills 101 people at a village volleyball game in the northwestern district of Bannu.
March 12: Twin suicide attacks on the military in Lahore kill 57.
May 28: Gun and suicide attackers storm mosques belonging to the Ahmadi religious minority in Lahore, killing 82 people.
July 9: A suicide bomber blows himself up in a busy market in the northwestern Mohmand tribal district, killing 105 people.
September 3: A suicide attack kills 59 at a Shiite Muslim rally in the southwestern city of Quetta.
November 5: A suicide bomber kills 68 people during Friday prayers in the northwest's Darra Adam Khel area.
Sixty people were killed when a suicide truck bomb brought down part of the five-star Marriott hotel in Islamabad (pictured)
2011 - April 3: Fifty die after two suicide bombers attack a Sufi shrine in the central town of Dera Ghazi Khan.
May 13: Two suicide bombers kill at least 98 people outside a police cadet training centre in Charsadda.
August 19: A suicide bomber hits a mosque during Friday prayers in the tribal district of Khyber, killing at least 43.
2012 - January 11: Thirty-five die when a remote-controlled bomb detonates in a market in the northwestern tribal areas.
August 16: Gunmen drag 20 Shiite Muslims off a bus and shoot them in the northwestern district of Mansehra.
2013 - January 10: A double suicide attack on a snooker club kills 92 in a Shiite Hazara neighbourhood of Quetta.
February 16: A bomb at a market at Hazara Town, a Shiite Hazara neighbourhood in the suburbs of Quetta, kills 89.
March 3: A car bomb explodes in a Shiite Muslim neighbourhood in Karachi, killing 45.
July 27: Twin explosions at a busy marketplace in northwest Pakistan kill 41.
August 9: A suicide bomber targets the funeral of a senior police officer in Quetta, killing 38.
September 22: Eighty-two people die when two suicide bombers attack a church in Peshawar after a Sunday service.
September 29: A car bomb in a busy market area in Peshawar kills 42.
2014 - January 19: A bomb rips through a military convoy in the northwestern city of Bannu, killing 20 soldiers.
January 21: A bomb on a bus kills 24 Shiite pilgrims in the southwestern province of Balochistan.
June 10: Ten Taliban militants lay siege to Karachi airport, killing 27 people.
November 2: Fifty-five people are killed by a suicide bomber at the daily closing ceremony at the main Pakistan-India border crossing.
December 16: Taliban insurgents storm an army-run school in Peshawar, killing more than 150 people, the majority of them children.
A car bomb destroys a market in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing 125 people, on October 28 2009 (pictured)
2015 - January 30: Sixty-two people are killed as a suicide bomber hits a Shiite mosque in the Shikarpur district.
February 13: Militants attack a Shiite mosque in Peshawar, killing 22.
March 15: The Taliban kill 17 people in twin suicide attacks that targeted churches in Lahore.
May 13: Forty-three Shiite Muslims are killed when gunmen open fire on their bus in Karachi.
September 18: The Pakistani Taliban attack an air force base near Peshawar and kill at least 29 people, most of them servicemen.
October 23: A suspected suicide blast which targeted Shiite Muslims in the southern city of Jacobabad kills 24.
December 13: A bomb rips through a crowded bazaar in a mainly Shiite area of Pakistan's northwestern tribal region, killing at least 23.
December 29: A Taliban suicide bomber on a motorcycle kills 26 in the northwestern town of Mardan.
