[NTD] Keeping the Islamic Love and Unityâ„¢A powerful bomb was detonated inside a Shiite mosque in Pakistan during Friday prayers, killing at least 56 worshippers and wounding nearly 200 others, many of them critically, hospital officials said.
The deadly explosion, reportedly carried out by a suicide bomber, occurred as worshippers had gathered at the mosque in the country’s northwestern city of Peshawar. No terrorist group has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
"First I heard five to six gunshots and then I saw the suicide bomber enter the mosque and a huge explosion occurred," a witness who identified himself as Naeem told Al Jazeera. "The doors of my house opened with a bang and I fell down on the ground. When I entered the mosque, there was smoke and dust and people were lying in blood."
Peshawar Police Chief Muhammed Ejaz Khan said the violence started when an armed attacker opened fire on police outside the mosque. One police officer was killed in the gunfight, and another officer was wounded, the chief said. Authorities said they fear the death toll may rise.
| Dawn adds: |
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistain's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire...’s old city neighbourhood on Friday, rescue and police personnel said.
The Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) confirmed the corpse count and injuries in the attack. LRH spokesperson Muhammad Asim said 10 of the injured were at death's door, while nine of the bodies were charred beyond recognition.
KP police chief Moazzam Jah Ansari said the lone attacker, who was on foot, first killed one of the police guards and then maimed the other before entering the mosque’s hall, some 25 yards away, where he detonated the explosives attached to his body in the third row of worshippers.
Police and witnesses said a man dressed in a black shalwar qameez shot the guards manning the main gate located at some distance from Jamia Masjid Koocha Risaldar, and then entered the mosque where he went
kaboom!amongst nearly 150 worshippers, who had congregated for Friday prayers.
Jamil Khan, one of the coppers standing guard at the gate, was shot full of holes while his colleague was injured in the subsequent blast.
"The attack took place just when people were preparing for the main Friday congregation," Mr Jah added. He said police forensic teams recovered 150 ball bearings from the hall.
"At least six kilogrammes of explosives were used in the attack," he claimed, adding there was no threat alert for February and March.
| Is that big or small for a suicide vest? I can never remember such things. |
Koocha Risaldar, a largely Shia neighbourhood in the old city, has witnessed many sectarian attacks in the past as well.
IS CLAIM
Late on Friday night, AFP reported that the murderous Moslem Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
group had claimed the suicide kaboom in Peshawar.
"Today ... an Islamic State fighter succeeded in assaulting a Shia mosque in Peshawar," the group said on its Amaq propaganda site.
Even before the claim came to light, security officials were of the view that the attack bore the hallmarks of the Islamic State group’s Khorasan chapter.
"We see the IS-K as the biggest threat, more than the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban
...Arabic for
students...
Pakistain," Mr Ansari, the Peshawar inspector general of police, said.
| An interesting choice, given the history of TTP in Pakistan... |
| Have they indeed? It couldn’t happen to a more deserving jihad-supporting government. |
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Peshawar: 2022-02-10 Security forces kill terrorist during exchange of fire in North Waziristan: ISPR
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Peshawar: 2022-03-02 240 Afghans arrested over illegal entry in Dera Ismail Khan
Peshawar: 2022-02-10 Security forces kill terrorist during exchange of fire in North Waziristan: ISPR
Peshawar: 2022-02-07 Pakistan 'strongly condemns' use of Afghan soil by terrorists after 5 soldiers martyred in Kurram