Pakistan has seen a surge in militant assaults since November, when the Pakistani Taliban ended their cease-fire with authorities forces.
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A suicide bomber struck a crowded mosque inside a police compound in Pakistan on Monday, inflicting the roof to break down and killing at least 44 individuals and wounding greater than 150 others, officers stated.
Most of the casualties have been police officers. It was not clear how the bomber was capable of slip into the walled compound, which homes the police headquarters within the northwestern metropolis of Peshawar and is itself positioned in a high-security zone with different authorities buildings.
Sarbakaf Mohmand, a commander for the Pakistani Taliban, claimed duty for the assault on Twitter. The important spokesman for the militant group was not instantly obtainable for remark.
Pakistan, which is usually Sunni Muslim, has seen a surge in militant assaults since November, when the Pakistani Taliban ended their cease-fire with authorities forces. Monday’s assault on a Sunni mosque was one of many deadliest assaults on safety forces in recent times.
More than 300 worshippers have been praying within the mosque, with extra approaching, when the bomber set off his explosives vest. Many have been injured when the roof got here down, in keeping with Zafar Khan, a police officer, and rescuers needed to take away mounds of particles to achieve worshippers nonetheless trapped beneath the rubble.
Meena Gul, who was within the mosque when the bomb went off, stated he doesn’t know the way he survived unharmed. The 38-year-old police officer stated he heard cries and screams after the blast.
Police official Siddique Khan stated the dying toll had risen to at least 44, whereas greater than 150 individuals have been wounded. He stated the bomber blew himself up whereas among the many worshippers.
Peshawar police chief Ijaz Khan stated at least 150 have been wounded. A close-by hospital listed lots of the wounded in important situation, elevating fears the dying toll might rise.
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the place the Pakistani Taliban have a powerful presence, and town has been the scene of frequent militant assaults.
The militant group, also called Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, has waged an insurgency in Pakistan previously 15 years. It seeks the stricter enforcement of Islamic legal guidelines, the discharge of their members who’re in authorities custody and a discount within the Pakistani navy presence in areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that it has longed used as its base.
The group is separate from however a detailed ally of the Afghan Taliban, who seized energy in neighboring Afghanistan in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO troops pulled in a foreign country after 20 years of warfare.
The authorities’s truce with the TTP ended as Pakistan was nonetheless contending with unprecedented flooding that killed 1,739 individuals, destroyed greater than 2 million houses, and at one level submerged as a lot as a 3rd of the nation.
Mohmand, of the militant group, stated a fighter carried out the assault to avenge the killing of Abdul Wali, who was broadly generally known as Omar Khalid Khurasani, and was killed in neighboring Afghanistan’s Paktika province in August 2022.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif condemned the bombing, vowed “stern action” in opposition to these behind it, and ordered authorities to provide the very best medical remedy for the victims.
Sharif traveled to Peshawar and visited the wounded. His workplace stated he would obtain a briefing concerning the safety scenario within the northwest.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan known as the bombing a “terrorist suicide attack.” He tweeted: “My prayers & condolences go to victims families. It is imperative we improve our intelligence gathering & properly equip our police forces to combat the growing threat of terrorism.”
Cash-strapped Pakistan faces a extreme financial disaster and is in search of a vital installment of $1.1 billion from the International Monetary Fund — a part of its $6 billion bailout package deal — to keep away from default. Talks with the IMF on reviving the bailout have stalled previously months.
Sharif’s authorities got here to energy in April after Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament. Khan has since campaigned for early elections, claiming his ouster was unlawful and a part of a plot backed by the United States. Washington and Sharif dismiss Khan’s claims.
Associated Press author Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.
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