Published
PakistanExplosion at Peshawar mosque kills at least 25
The attack, which occurred Monday during midday prayers in the mosque inside the police headquarters, also left 120 injured, authorities said.
Part of the mosque’s roof and wall collapsed in the blast
AFP
At least 25 people were killed and 120 others injured in an explosion Monday during midday prayers at a mosque inside the police headquarters in Peshawar, northwest Pakistan, we learned from an administrative source.
“So far 25 people have been killed and 120 injured (…) Other bodies have been taken out (from the mosque). Currently, our number one priority is to save people trapped under the rubble,” said Shaffiullah Khan, a senior administrative official in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, of which Peshawar is the capital.
Part of the roof and a wall of the mosque collapsed under the blast and an operation was underway to rescue people trapped under the debris, noted a journalist, who also saw two bodies placed in an ambulance.
Resumption of attacks carried out by the local branch of IS
In March 2022, a suicide attack claimed by EI-K, the local branch of the Islamic State group, in a Shiite mosque in Peshawar, killed 64 people. According to the police, the suicide bomber was an Afghan national living in Pakistan with his family for several years, who had prepared the attack in Afghanistan.
Pakistan has been facing deteriorating security for some months, especially since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in August 2021. After several years of relative calm, the attacks have resumed with a vengeance, led by the Pakistani Taliban of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, the regional branch of EI-K, or Baloch separatist groups.
Pakistan accuses the Taliban of letting these groups use Afghan soil to plan their attacks, which Kabul has repeatedly denied.
(AFP)