A suicide attack targeting policemen leaves 59 dead and 157 injured in a mosque in Peshawar, Pakistan.
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The mosque is located near the tightly guarded police headquarters area. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said, “Terrorists wanted to create fear by targeting the ones who perform the duty of defending Pakistan”
The violence has been on the rise since the ceasefire ended in November. Last iolence has been on the rise since the ceasefire ended in November. Last December, the group targeted a police station in Peshawar, in the north-west of the country, killing 33 militants.
The death toll stood at 59, while 157 people were injured, according to a hospital spokesman.
The Peshawar police chief, Muhammad Ijaz Khan, told local media that around 300 to 400 police officers were present in the area at that time.
Authorities claimed 27 of the dead were police officials. Siddique Khan, a police official, said the suicide bomber blew himself up seconds before the prayers began.
Sarbakaf Mohamand, a commander of the Pakistan Taliban (Tehreek-e-Taliban), had taken responsibility for the attack.
Hours later, Mohammad Khurasani, a TTP spokesperson, tweeted saying, “It was not its policy to target mosques, seminaries, and other religious places.” distancing his group from the bombing. The TTP issued a statement that said “Tehreek-e-Taliban” has no role in the mosque attack.
The mosque is in one of the most heavily guarded areas of the city, which includes the police headquarters, anti-terrorism offices, and intelligence bureaus.
Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said “the suicide bomber was in the first row of the congregational prayers inside the mosque.”
“Nothing to do with Islam” said PM Shehbaz Sharif
Prime Minister Sharif told the press, the ones behind the attack had “nothing to do with Islam.” Continued, ” We stand in solidarity with the people of Pakistan and united against the imperils of terrorism.”
The blast happened during the afternoon prayer in the mosque around 13:30 in the northwest city bordering Afghanistan.
A video circulating on social media shows that half of the wall collapsed. The worshippers clambered over the rubble to escape as the mosque was covered in bricks and debris.
Hours after the blast, it was noticed that a facility full of injured people was still wearing their police uniforms.
Terrifying sights came in as some of them were covered in burn cream and their skin turned red with burns from the explosion. Others were hit by the falling rubble and suffered broken bones and severe injuries.
A survivor of the attack, Shahid Ali, said the explosion took place seconds after the prayers began. “I ran out to save my life and saw black smoke rising to the sky,” the 47-year-old told AFP news. “People were yelling for help,” he added.”Their screams are still echoing in my mind.”
One victim lost his hearing and still couldn’t hear anything because of the sound of the explosion. Another man said he had been rescued after being buried under the rubble for almost an hour.
UN condemns the attack as “abhorrent” in a place of worship
Prime Minister Sharif has made an emergency visit to Peshawar to visit the wounded victims of the blast. Official reports say he will be briefed by the locals.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack. He said, “It is highly abhorrent that such an incident happened in a place of worship.”
On Monday, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of the United Arab Emirates, made a visit to Islamabad, but the trip was cancelled at the last minute because of bad weather.
A delegation from the International Monetary Fund is meant to visit Pakistan in order to unlock the bailout loan process in that country.
In Islamabad, the police have issued a high alert and secured all the entry and exit gates, increasing the security of the capital.
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