Red Cross says Pakistan attacks part of alarming trend

The international Red Cross condemned Friday the attacks on two mosques in Pakistan in which at least 80 people died, calling them part of an alarming wave of attacks on civilians.

“The ICRC strongly condemns such deliberate attacks against civilians, of which the only purpose can be to spread terror among the population,” said Jacques de Maio, the International Committee of the Red Cross head of operations for South Asia.

“These attacks form part of a highly alarming, unacceptable series of attacks on civilians in Pakistan,” he added in a statement.

At least 80 people died when gunmen stormed the two mosques in Lahore, firing guns, throwing grenades and taking hostages in the deadliest attack on the city of eight million increasingly targeted by the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

The ICRC said the Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) was providing life-saving first aid and transporting the wounded to hospital, where medical staff are struggling to cope with the influx of critically injured casualties.