Peshawar mosque blast toll rises to 90, over 150 injured

Mangalore Today News Network

Peshawar, Jan 31, 2023: The death toll in the Pakistan mosque explosion has surged to 90. According to a hospital spokesperson in Peshawar, 57 people injured in the blast which took place on Monday, are still being treated for their injuries.

 

Nearly 400 worshippers were present inside the mosque in Peshawar when a suicide bomber blew himself up. The deceased also included 27 police officials.

The explosion was reported a day before an International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission to Islamabad to initiate talks on unlocking funding for the South Asian country’s economy, which is enduring a balance of payments crisis.

At nearly 1.40 pm on Monday, a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a crowded mosque in a highly fortified security compound in Pakistan’s Peshawar. The attacker appeared to have passed through several barricades manned by security forces to get into the "Red Zone" compound that houses police and counter-terrorism offices.

The initial death toll was 17, while scores of other people were hospitalised with serious injuries. Videos showed chaotic scenes as the police and the rescuers scrambled to rush the wounded to hospitals.

The explosion brought down the upper storey of the mosque, trapping dozens of worshippers in the rubble. Rescuers struggled to cut through the collapsed rooftop to make their way down and tend to victims caught in the wreckage.

Local Taliban known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, an umbrella group of Sunni and sectarian militant groups, denied responsibility. "Tehreek-e-Taliban has nothing to do with this attack," the TTP said in a statement. An inquiry was underway into how the attacker breached such an elite security cordon and whether there was any inside help.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack, saying, The sheer scale of the human tragedy is unimaginable. This is no less than an attack on Pakistan, I have no doubt terrorism is our foremost national security challenge."

Courtesy: India Today