Pakistan: 46 killed, over 100 injured in Taliban suicide blast at Peshawar mosque
Peshawar: A Taliban suicide bomber blew himself up in a mosque full of worshipers during afternoon prayers on Monday in a heavily guarded zone in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, killing at least 46 people and wounding more than 100 others, mostly police, security and health officials said.
The blast occurred inside a mosque in the Police Lines area around 1:40 pm when worshippers, including police, army and bomb disposal squad personnel, were offering Zuhr (afternoon) prayers. The bomber, who was present in the front row, blew himself up, officials said.
Officials at Lady Reading Hospital said 46 people had died so far. However, the Peshawar police released a list of 38 victims.
Among the injured were mainly police officers.
The brother of slain Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander Umar Khalid Khurasani claimed the suicide attack was part of a revenge attack for his brother, who was killed last August in Afghanistan.
The outlawed TTP, known as the Pakistani Taliban, has carried out a number of suicide attacks targeting security personnel in the past.
Superintendent of Police (Investigation), Peshawar, Shazad Kaukab, whose office is close to the mosque, told media that the blast occurred when he had just entered the mosque to offer prayers. Luckily, he survived the attack.
A police official said part of the mosque had collapsed and several people were believed to be underneath.
The bomber entered the high-security mosque inside police lines, where four levels of security were in place to enter the mosque.
The Dawn newspaper, quoting the Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Peshawar Muhammad Ijaz Khan, said that a number of jawans were still stuck under the debris and rescue workers were trying to pull them out.
Khan said 300 to 400 police officers were present in the area at the time of the blast. “It is clear that there was a security failure,” he told the media.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the attack, saying the attackers behind the incident “have nothing to do with Islam”.
“Terrorists want to create fear by targeting those who are doing their duty to defend Pakistan,” he said, promising that the victims of the blast would not go in vain. “The entire nation stands united against the menace of terrorism.”
He also said that a comprehensive strategy would be adopted to combat the deteriorating law and order situation in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the federal government would help the provinces to enhance their counter-terrorism capacity.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also condemned the attack, saying “terrorist incidents ahead of local and general elections were meaningful”.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Haji Ghulam Ali condemned the blast and urged people to donate blood for the injured, saying it would be a “huge favor” for the police.
The injured are being taken to Lady Reading Hospital, officials said.
Hospital sources said 13 of the injured were in critical condition.
A state of emergency has been declared in hospitals in Peshawar. The hospital called on citizens to donate blood for the victims.
After the blast in Peshawar, security was beefed up in other major cities, including Islamabad. In Islamabad, security has been increased at all entry and exit points of the capital and snipers have been deployed at “important places and buildings”.
Caretaker Chief Minister Azam Khan condemned the attack and offered condolences to the bereaved families.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan strongly condemned the terrorist attack in the mosque.
“My prayers and condolences go out to the families of the victims. It is imperative that we improve our intelligence gathering and properly equip our police force to combat the growing threat of terrorism,” Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf tweeted.
Last year, a similar attack inside a Shiite mosque in the city’s Kocha Risaldar area killed 63 people.
The TTP, set up as an umbrella group of several militant outfits in 2007, has called off a ceasefire with the federal government and ordered its militants to carry out terror attacks across the country.
The group, believed to be close to al-Qaeda, has been blamed for several deadly attacks across Pakistan, including an attack on an army headquarters in 2009, attacks on military bases and the 2008 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad .
In 2014, the Pakistani Taliban attacked the Army Public School (APS) in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing at least 150 people, including 131 students. The attack sent shockwaves around the world and was widely condemned.
