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According to reports, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a mosque in Peshawar’s Police Lines during ‘Zuhr’ prayers (around noon) on Monday, killing at least 59 people, mostly police officers, and injuring 157 others.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which broke its ceasefire with the government late last year and carried out a series of attacks, including one on a Peshawar police station in December, has claimed responsibility for the blast.
According to security officials, the suicide attacker detonated the explosives in the front row during Zuhr prayers, according to Geo News.
According to police, Imam Sahibzada Noor ul Amin was also killed in the blast.
The blast also brought down the mosque’s roof, trapping many people beneath the debris and rescue operations were on to extricate them.
Local media quoted an eyewitness, who was going to the mosque when the explosion took place, as saying that it was “a powerful explosion” and “there was smoke everywhere”.
“There were at least 120 people in the mosque when the incident took place. It was a suicide blast because the bomber was inside the mosque’s inner courtyard. The Zuhr prayer had just started when it happened. There were mostly policemen among the injured,” the eyewitness said, adding that he later saw that the mosque’s roof had collapsed.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has arrived in Peshawar, accompanied by top ministers including Defence Minister Khwaja Asif and Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, to be briefed by officials and to visit the injured in hospitals. General Syed Asim Munir, Chief of Army Staff, has also arrived in the provincial capital and is accompanying the Prime Minister.
According to Asif, the roof collapsed due to the force of the blast, and the city’s hospitals are overcrowded.
He stated that the police have been targeted, emphasizing the importance of reactivating the machinery that previously controlled terrorism.
Moazzam Jah Ansari, Inspector General of Police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said “investigations are underway” into how the terrorist entered the highly-secure area, which houses the Peshawar Police, the Counter-Terrorism Department, the Frontier Reserve Police, the Elite Force and Telecommunications Department are also located.
He apprehended that “there are family quarters inside the Police Lines and the attacker could be already living in the area”, Geo News reported.
There is also speculation as to how the suicide bomber got to the mosque.
According to Tassavur Iqbal of the Civil Secretariat Association Peshawar, who regularly prays at the mosque, the Police Lines area’s security is always high, and no one can enter without showing their identity and undergoing a body search, according to Geo News.
According to a local journalist, the Police Lines are located in Peshawar Cantt’s most sensitive area, where a large number of security personnel are present around the clock, and getting there requires passing through at least two police checkpoints.
Meanwhile, the injured were taken to Lady Reading Hospital, and the hospital requested that citizens donate blood for the victims. Muhammad Azam Khan, the caretaker Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, imposed a medical emergency in all hospitals of Peshawar, and asked rescue organisations to speed up relief activities.
Lady Reading Hospital spokesman Muhammad Asim said that 157 injured people were brought there after the blast.
“Bodies of 44 people were also transferred to the hospital. At the moment, around 65 injured are getting treatment. Some of the injured are critical, while condition of most is satisfactory,” he said, adding that most people among the injured and dead included police officers.
The attack was condemned by top leaders of the country.
President Dr Arif Alvi deemed the attack “heinous and cowardly”, and asserted that the perpetrators would be found and punished.
PM Shehbaz Sharif said that the blast inside a mosque proves that those involved in the attack have “nothing to do with Islam”.
“These terrorists are trying to instil fear by targeting those who perform the duty of defending Pakistan,” he said, assuring the people that the coalition government will take strict action against those involved.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, condemning the incident, said that strict action will be taken against the terrorists, their backers and facilitators.
PTI Chairman Imran Khan also took to Twitter to condemn the suicide attack.
“My prayers and condolences go to victims families. It is imperative we improve our intelligence gathering and properly equip our police forces to combat the growing threat of terrorism,” said Khan.
Former President and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari condemned the incident, saying that the terrorists being active in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is “extremely dangerous”.
Former Chief Minister Mahmood Khan strongly condemned the incident, calling it a “heartbreaking” incident.
Meanwhile, in the aftermath of the blast, Islamabad’s Inspector General, Dr. Akbar Nasir Khan, issued orders to increase security in the federal capital.
Source:IANS
