LAHORE, ******** — The ***** toll from a massive ******* ******* targeting Christians gathered on Easter in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore rose to 70 on Monday, underscoring the ability of the militants to stage large-scale ******* despite a months-long military offensive targeting their hideouts.

Meanwhile, in the capital of Islamabad, extremists protested for a second day outside ********’s Parliament and other key buildings in the city centre. The demonstrators set cars on ****, demanding that the authorities impose Islamic law or Sharia. The army, which was deployed Sunday to contain the rioters, remained out on the streets around the Parliament and key buildings on Monday.

The Lahore *******, which was claimed by a breakaway ******* faction that has publicly supported the Islamic State group, took place in a park that was crowded with families, with many women and children among the *******. At least 300 people were ******* in the *******.

Also Monday, ******** started observing a three-day ******** period that was declared after the Lahore ******.

Even though a breakaway ******* group, known as Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, said it specifically targeted ********’s Christian community, most of those ****** in Lahore were Muslims, who were also gathered in the park for the Sunday weekend holiday. The park is a popular spot in the heart of Lahore.

Of the ****, 14 have been identified as Christians, according to Lahore ****** Superintendent Mohammed Iqbal. Another 12 bodies have not yet been identified, he said.

The ****** underscored both the precarious position of ********’s minorities and the fact that the militants are still capable of staging wide-scale assaults despite a months-long military offensive targeting their hideouts and safe havens in remote tribal areas.

Ahsanullah Ahsan, a spokesman for the breakaway ******* faction, told The Associated Press late Sunday that along with deliberately targeting Christians celebrating Easter, the ****** also meant to ******* ********’s military operation in the tribal regions. The same militant group also took responsibility for the twin ******** of a Christian ****** in Lahore last year.

In Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the Lahore *******, saying that in targeting a park filled with children, the ****** “revealed the face of ******, which knows no limits and values.”

France expressed its “solidarity in these difficult moments” to the authorities and the people of ******** and underlined “the inflexible will of our country to continue to battle ********* everywhere.”

In Islamabad, extremists had marched into the city on Sunday in ******* of the hanging of policeman Mumtaz Qadri in February. Qadri was convicted for the 2011 ****** of governor Salman Taseer, who was defending a Christian woman jailed on blasphemy charges. Taseer had also criticized ********’s harsh blasphemy laws and campaigned against them.

As the protesters reached an avenue leading to the Parliament, the march turned violent, with Qadri’s supporters smashing windows and damaging bus stations. ****** ***** ******** but could not subdue the crowds, which remained in the capital.

On Monday, they rallied anew, demanding that the Christian woman also be hanged and that authorities impose Islamic law or Sharia. The woman, Aasia Bibi, is still in jail facing blasphemy charges.

The army deployed ******** paramilitary Rangers as well as about 800 additional soldiers from neighbouring Rawalpindi to Islamabad, to protect the centre, which houses main government buildings and diplomatic missions.

In recent weeks, ********’s Islamist parties have been threatening widespread demonstration to ******* what they say is Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s pro-Western stance. They have also denounced provincial draft legislation in Punjab outlawing ******** against women.

Sharif had also this month recognized holidays celebrated by the country’s minority religions, the Hindu festival of Holi and the Christian holiday of Easter.

In Lahore, dozens of families were bidding final farewell to their slain kin on Monday.

Shama Pervez, widowed mother of 11-year-old Sahil Pervez who **** in the *****, was inconsolable during ******* prayers. Her son, a fifth grader at a local Catholic school, had pleaded with her to go to the park rather than stay home on Sunday, and she said she finally gave in.

Forensic experts sifted through the ****** in the park on Monday. The ******* **** had been a crude devise loaded with ball bearings, designed to rip through the bodies of its ******* to cause maximum damage, said counter-********* official Rana Tufail. He identified the ******* ****** as Mohammed Yusuf, saying he was known as a militant recruiter.

Analyst and prominent author of books on militants in ********, Zahid Hussain, said Sunday’s ******** was a co-ordinated show of strength by the country’s religious extremists, angered over what they see as efforts to undermine their influence.

The military launched an all-out offensive against militants in the North Waziristan tribal region bordering *********** in June 2014. The operation, called Zarb-e-Azb, has seen over 3,000 militants ******, according to the army. In December 2014 , the ******* retaliated with one of the ***** ****** assaults in ********, attacking a school in northwestern city of Peshawar and ******* 150 people, mainly children.

Hussain said the government has been sending mixed signals to Islamic extremists – on the one hand allowing banned radical groups to operate unhindered under new names and radical leaders to openly give inciting speeches, while on the other hanging convicts like Qadri and promising to tackle honour killings and ******* against women.

“It is one step forward and two steps backward,” says Hussain. “The political leadership has to assert itself and say ‘no’ to extremism once and for all.”

Army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif promised ******** “will never allow these savage non-humans to over run our life and liberty.”

Prime Minister Sharif, meanwhile, cancelled a planned trip to Great ******* on Monday and held a high-level security meeting.

In ********’s largest city, Karachi, the Press Club was ransacked by pro-Qadri supporters on Sunday. Several Pakistani journalists were roughed up and some equipment was damaged.

On Monday, extremists were regrouping in Karachi ahead of rallies in the country’s financial centre.