In Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, 59 people, mostly police officers, were killed and 157 were injured in a suicide attack on a mosque during the noon prayer.
According to national media reports, a suicide attack took place at the mosque in the Police Lines area of the city during the noon prayer.
In the attack, 59 people, mostly police officers, lost their lives and 157 people were injured.
Officials, who stated that there were about 300 people in the mosque at the time of the attack, are worried that the death toll will increase.
Peshawar Police Chief Mohammed Ijaz Khan stated that the roof of the mosque collapsed after the explosion and efforts are continuing to save those who were under the rubble.
Han said that the regional security forces and the counter-terrorism unit were investigating how the bomb was inserted into the mosque located on the same campus.
The explosion caused damage to the mosque as well as the surrounding buildings and vehicles.
Search and rescue activities continue in the area.
ATTACK PAKISTAN TAKING OFFICIAL
Sarbakaf Mohmand, one of the commanders of the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), announced on his social media accounts that they claimed responsibility for the attack.
Mohmand announced that the attack was carried out to avenge Abdul Wali Mohmand, known as Omar Khalid Khorasani, one of the top TTP commanders, who was killed in Afghanistan in August 2022.
It is noteworthy that the suicide attack took place while Foreign Minister Bilaval Bhutto Zardari was visiting Russia.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, in a statement on Twitter, condemned the attack and emphasized that strong action would be taken against those behind it.
Sharif, who went to Peshawar after the attack, visited the wounded and got information about the security situation.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan also condemned the action, calling it a “terrorist attack”.
TERROR ATTACKS INCREASED
The Pakistani Taliban (TTP) has recently increased its attacks.
On November 28, 2022, TTP announced on social media that the ceasefire, which was initiated with the Islamabad administration on May 10, 2022, had ended and that it had ordered its members to attack the security forces across the country.
Pakistan considers TTP a terrorist organization.
According to the data shared by the Islamabad-based think tank Center for Security Studies and Research (CRSS), 601 people, including 290 members of the security forces and 311 civilians, were killed and 741 injured in 506 terrorist attacks in Pakistan in 2022.
The majority of the attacks were carried out in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border regions. Organizations such as TTP, Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and DAESH-H claimed responsibility for most of these attacks.
Terrorist attacks in Pakistan in 2022 increased by 15 percent compared to the previous year.
Photo: AP