Christians held funerals amidst tight security Tuesday for the victims of twin Taliban suicide attacks that targeted churches two days earlier in the worst attack on the minority group in over a year. Seventeen people died as a result of the suicide bombings in the Youhanabad district of Lahore, with more than 70 wounded.
Two men were later lynched by an angry mob who suspected they were militants, though authorities Tuesday announced they were investigating claims by relatives of one of the men that he was an innocent shopkeeper caught up in the fracas. The attack also sparked two days of rioting by thousands of Christians who clashed with water canon-wielding police, blocked roads and forced a partial shutdown of the city's public bus system.
"We have deployed more than 5,000 policemen and paramilitary rangers," senior police official Haider Ashraf told AFP.
Shops were closed as grieving residents made their way toward the burial grounds, while senior cleric Bishop Irfan Jameel appealed for calm. "Please remain peaceful and carry on the struggle against terrorism by forging unity as a nation among ourselves," Jameel said, adding that a memorial would be built to honour the "martyrs of Youhanabad". Punjab home minister Shuja Khanzada meanwhile told AFP the government was hunting the culprits of the attack. "Burning two people alive and damaging public property is also... (a) form of terrorism," he said. "All those who have done this will be identified through the video footage and will be arrested."
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