Pak PM Sharif demands swift action on terror

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has urged better coordination between security agencies against terror, a day after a suicide bomb killed more than 70 in Lahore.

At a meeting of security officials, Nawaz Sharif said the nation’s resolve to deal with militants was growing.

A number of arrests were made and weapons seized in five raids by security forces, the army said.

Taliban splinter group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar said it carried out the attack against Christians celebrating Easter.

At least 300 people were injured, with officials saying they expected the death toll to rise.

The area was more crowded than usual, as members of Lahore’s minority Christian community had gathered to celebrate Easter at a funfair in the park.

However, most of those who died in the attack were Muslims.

At least one funeral, of 11-year-old Christian boy Sahil Pervez, was held on Monday.

Sharif visited some of the injured in hospital. At the later security meeting, he said defeating terrorism was imperative.

“Our resolve as a nation and as a government is getting stronger and the cowardly enemy is trying for soft targets,” he said.

Sharif added that security forces should go after the militants before they were able to strike again.

Meanwhile army spokesman Gen Asim Bajwa tweeted that security forces had carried out raids in Lahore, Multan and Faisalabad. A “number of suspect terrorists and facilitators” were arrested and a “huge cache of arms and ammunition” seized, he added.

Meanwhile Facebook has apologised after a programme glitch resulted in users around the world being sent a notification to let friends know they were safe after the attack, meant only for subscribers in the Lahore area.