Taliban attacks on Pakistan churches kill 14, spark riots

Fourteen people were killed and more than 70 injured when two Taliban suicide bombers attacked churches in Pakistan on March 15, sparking mob violence in which two other suspected militants died.
      
The bombings occurred during prayers at two churches located around half a kilometre apart in the Youhanabad district of Lahore city, a neighbourhood that is home to more than 100,000 Christians, officials said.
      
Doctor Mohammad Saeed Sohbin, medical superintendent of the nearby General Hospital, told AFP: "We have received 14 dead bodies and 70 injured," adding that the figure did not include the suspected militants.
      
Zahid Pervez, the top health official in Lahore, confirmed the death toll and told reporters that 78 people were wounded in both attacks.
      
Broken window panes, blood and shoes were scattered across the blast sites.
      
Earlier, police spokeswoman Nabila Ghazanfar said two policemen on guard duty had been killed in the attacks, while two people were beaten to death by protesters that took to the streets after the blasts.
      
"Policemen on duty at both the entrances tried to stop them but the bombers blew themselves up," she told AFP.
     
"The angry mob protesting after the blast beat to death two people whom they suspected of being associates of the attackers."       

An AFP photographer saw the bodies of the two suspected militants on fire after the beating. It was not clear whether they were still alive at the time.
      
The Pakistani Taliban's Jamaat-ul-Ahrar faction described the blasts as suicide attacks and vowed to continue their campaign for the enforcement of Sharia Islamic law in a statement emailed to the media.
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