On March 22nd two coordinated terrorist attacks occurred in Brussels, the capital of Belgium and of the European Union; one in the departure hall of the Zaventem airport, and the other in the Maelbeek metro station, just steps away from EU headquarters. Hardly a week later, on Easter Sunday, March 27th, another terrorist attack took place in Gulshan Iqbal Park in Lahore, a major city in Pakistan.
The attacks had much in common besides their unsettling proximity. Islamic extremist groups claimed responsibility for the both the suicide bombings in Brussels and Lahore, both of which left scores dead and wounded. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria claimed reasonability for the attacks in Brussels, releasing a statement that “what is coming is worse and more bitter.”
Thirty-one people were killed in the attack and as many as 270 people were wounded. Jamat-ul-Ahrar, a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack in Lahore, professing that the attack, which killed mostly women and children, targeted male members of Lahore’s Christian community. Seventy-two people were left dead after the bombing of the park, including twenty-four children, and 341 people were injured.
The Brussels attack was carried out by individuals who considered themselves outsiders to Belgian society, a society that they sought to destroy. Two of the suicide bombers in the Brussels attacks, brothers Ibrahim and Khalid el-Bakraoui, were born and raised in Laeken, a working class neighborhood in Brussels, the sons of a Moroccan immigrant. At least five of about ten terrorists who carried out the Paris attacks on November 13th came from Molenbeek in Brussels, a number of whom are thought to have ties to the attack in Brussels as well. Molenbeek is a neighborhood just a few stops from Maelbeek station that is heavily populated by second and third generation North African immigrants and is seen as a hotbed for ISIS recruiting. The terrorists in Lahore, on the other hand, specifically targeted a minority community: Pakistani Christians. The Pakistani Christian community of around two million makes up about 2% of Pakistan’s population.
Although the attacks in Brussels received more attention in Western media than did the attack in Lahore, the sentiment shared by civilians and leaders worldwide was fairly similar. All over the world and on social media, people paid their respects to victims of the Brussels attack, including a number of international victims. President Obama promised his support for Belgium and emphasized the need for unity, noting that “This is yet another reminder that the world must unite. We must be together.” French President Francois Hollande mourned the calamity, stating that “It’s all of Europe hit” and had the Eiffel Tower lit in the colors of the Belgian flag.
Yeshiva University students set up memorial tables lit with yahrzeit candles for each of the fallen victims in Rubin Hall and in the 245 Lexington building. The reaction to the terror in Lahore was perhaps more muted, but also called for unity. Malala Yousafzai, the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for her advocacy for women’s education, lived in Pakistan until a few years ago when threats from the Taliban prompted her and her family to flee. After the attacks on Sunday, she stated, “Pakistan and the world must unite. Every like if precious.”
Belgian and Pakistani authorities and civilians have reacted quickly and sharply to the attacks. Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel stated, “What we feared has happened,” pointing to the long held fear of the many homegrown terrorist cells in Belgium. Belgian police detained a number of individuals suspected in planning the attacks, discovering a terror web with unknown reach but released the only suspect they officially arrested after a judge determined that there had insufficient evidence to incriminate him.
On Easter Sunday, nearly 400 right-wing protesters descended on a memorial square for the victims of the attack where a peace rally was set to take place. The police pushed back the protesters and even fired a water cannon at them, but eventually diffused the situation and laid the way for the peaceful rally. The League of Imams in Belgium condemned “firmly the criminal and unspeakable” attacks.
Meanwhile, in Pakistan the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced, “We are keeping count of every drop of blood of our martyrs. We will not rest until the cost of this blood is avenged.” The Government furthered its efforts to crack down on Islamic extremism in the country and has detained some 300 suspects since the Easter bombings. However, nearly 10,000 protesters gathered in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, the following Tuesday to demand the implementation of strict Sharia Law in the country. Time will tell what will become of the two cities who have suffered major attacks in the recent weeks.