Advertisement

  1. National

More than 200 held after Pakistan detains 5,000 over Easter bombing

Pakistan has held 216 suspects after a major sweep by the military and the police saw more than 5,000 detained over the Easter Sunday suicide bomb attack.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed to crack down on Islamist militants in the country after the attack in Lahore claimed the lives of more than 70 people, including 29 children.

View all 15 updates ›

Taliban group threaten PM and media after Easter bombing

The Taliban faction who claimed to have carried out Easter Sunday's bomb attack in Pakistan have issued a new threat, singling out the nation's media and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

"Everyone will get their turn in this war, especially the slave Pakistani media," Ehsanullah Ehsan, spokesman for extremist group Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, tweeted. "We are just waiting for the appropriate time."

Funerals have been held for the 70 victims of the attack, the most deadly since a Taliban massacre at a school killed 134 students in 2014. Credit: Reuters

Sunday's attack, which killed 70 people including 29 children, led to at least 160 raids that targeted anyone suspected of Islamist extremism after Mr Sharif announced new powers for arrests and interrogations.

Ehsan issued a direct to the Pakistani prime minister, tweeting: "Let Nawaz Sharif know that this war has now come to the threshold of his home. The winners of this war will, God willing, be the righteous mujahideen."

More on this story