| NO!! Reeeeeeeealy?? |
| ...that’s Peshawar’s Police Lines area mosque, where police, army and government types all prayed together... |
The blast, which destroyed a Sunni mosque inside a major police facility in the city of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...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..., was one of the deadliest attacks on Pak security forces in recent years. It left as many as 225 maimed, some still at death's door in hospital, according to Kashif Aftab Abbasi, a senior officer in Peshawar.
More than 300 worshipers were praying in the mosque, with more approaching, when the bomber set off his explosives vest on Monday morning, officials said.
The explosion blew off part of the roof, and what was left soon caved in, injuring many more, according to Zafar Khan, a police officer. Rescuers had to remove mounds of debris to reach worshipers still trapped under the rubble.
More bodies were retrieved overnight and early Tuesday, according to Mohammad Asim, a government hospital front man in Peshawar, and several of those critically injured died. "Most of them were coppers," Asim said of the victims.
Bilal Faizi, the chief rescue official, said rescue teams were still working Tuesday at the site as more people are believed trapped inside. Mourners were burying the victim at different graveyards in the city and elsewhere.
Counter-terrorism police are investigating how the bomber was able to reach the mosque, which is in a walled compound, inside a high security zone with other government buildings.
"Yes, it was a security lapse," said Ghulam Ali, the provincial governor in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, of which Peshawar is the capital.
Abbasi, the official who gave the latest casualty tolls, concurred. "There was a security lapse and the inspector-general of the police has set up an inquiry committee, which will look into all aspects of the bombing," he said. "Action will be taken against those whose negligence" caused the attack.
Talat Masood, a retired army general and senior security analyst said Monday's suicide kaboom showed "negligence."
"When we know that Tehrik-e-Taliban
...mindless ferocity in a turban...
Pakistain is active, and when we know that they have threatened to carry out attacks, there should have been more security at the police compound in Peshawar," he told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named on Tuesday, referring to a bad boy group also known as the Pak Taliban or TTP.
Kamran Bangash, a provincial secretary-general with opposition party Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf
...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is
Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations....
called for an investigation and said Pakistain will continue to face political instability so long as the current government is in power.
"The current government of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif
...Pak dynastic politician, brother of PM Nawaz Sharif, chief minister of Punjab...has failed to improve the economy and law and order situation, and it should resign to pave the way for snap parliamentary elections," he said.