New Delhi: The death toll in a Taliban suicide attack on a mosque in a high-security area in Pakistan’s restive northwestern Peshawar city rose to 61 on Monday (January 30, 2023). A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a mosque packed with worshipers during afternoon prayers on Monday, injuring more than 150 people, mostly policemen.
According to officials, the powerful explosion occurred inside the mosque in the Police Lines area around 1.40 pm when the worshippers, including police, army and bomb disposal squad personnel, were offering Zohar (afternoon) prayers.
The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), better known as the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the suicide attack, saying it was part of a revenge attack for Umar Khalid Khurasani, a TTP commander who was killed in Afghanistan last year. .
The group is said to be close to al-Qaeda and has been accused of several deadly attacks across Pakistan, including an attack on an army headquarters in 2009, attacks on military bases and the 2008 Marriott Hotel bombing in Islamabad.
In 2014, the Pakistani Taliban also attacked the Army Public School (APS) in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing at least 150 people, including 131 students.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the attack, saying the attackers behind the incident “have nothing to do with Islam”.
“Terrorists want to create fear by targeting those who are on duty to protect Pakistan,” he said. He resolved that the sacrifice of the blast victims will not go in vain.
“The entire country is united against the menace of terrorism,” he said.
Sharif also said that a comprehensive strategy would be adopted to counter the deteriorating law and order situation in restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the federal government would help the provinces to enhance their anti-terrorist capability.
Prime Minister and Army Chief General Asim Munir arrived in Peshawar to review relief and rescue operations.
Accompanied by the Army Chief, the Premier also visited the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar and inquired about the health of the injured.
Home Minister Rana Sanaullah and other officials were also present.
The Prime Minister called an emergency meeting where the preliminary inquiry report was presented.