CHURCH leaders in Pakistan have condemned the triple bombings at a Shia religious ceremony in Lahore, which killed 35 and injured more than 200.

Such an act, committed as “thousands of flood victims await international support [is] cowardly,” said Archbishop Lawrence J. Saldanha of Lahore ^[1].

The prelate was speaking in the wake of two suicide bombings and one grenade attack on Shias marking the martyrdom of Prophet Ali, one of Shia Islam’s most respected holy men, on Thursday.

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Al-Alami, a banned Taliban movement, has claimed responsibility. “Our purpose was to avenge the murder of one of our leaders murdered a year ago,” says Qari Husain, the movement’s leader.

“Police were removing the barriers toward the end of the religious procession when the first hand grenade was thrown,” said Tajamul Abbas, an observer.

Full report at ucanews.com ^[2]