Pakistan _Live updates on the Peshawar blast: At least 46 people were killed and over 150 others, including policemen, were injured when a Taliban suicide bomber blew himself up in a mosque full of worshippers during afternoon prayers on Monday in the high-security area of Pakistan’s Peshawar city.
46 killed, over 150 injured in Pakistan
Around 1.40 pm, worshippers ncluding members of the police, army, and bomb squad were doing the Zuhr (afternoon) prayers inside the mosque in the Police Lines neighbourhood. According to authorities, the bomber who was sitting in the front row detonated himself. Officials from Lady Reading Hospital said that 46 individuals has already died.
Yet, a list of 38 victims has been made public by the Peshawar Police.Among the injured, police officers made up the majority.
According to a brother of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan commander who was murdered, Umar Khalid Khurasani, the suicide assault was part of retaliation for his brother’s death in Afghanistan in August.
Security personnel have been the target of several suicide strikes in the past by the banned TTP, also known as the Pakistani Taliban.
The incident happened as Shazad Kaukab, the Superintendent of Police (Investigation), Peshawar, approached the mosque to offer prayers, according to Kaukab, whose office is next to the mosque. He said that the attack was a lucky escape.
According to a police spokesman, a section of the mosque fell and many individuals were reportedly below it.
The terrorist passed through four tiers of security to infiltrate the heavily guarded mosque inside of police lines.According to Dawn newspaper’s citation of Capital City Police Officer Peshawar Muhammad Ijaz Khan, some jawans are still trapped beneath the debris and rescuers are attempting to free them.
Between 300 and 400 police officers, according to Khan, were in the vicinity when the bomb occurred. He informed the journalists, “It is obvious that a security failure happened.
The act was fiercely denounced by the prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, who said that the perpetrators “had nothing to do with Islam.”
He declared, “Terrorists aim to instil terror by targeting people who uphold Pakistan’s defence,” and he assured that the sacrifices made by the bombing victims will not be in vain.
“The entire country is unified in the fight against the terrorist threat.”In addition, he said that the federal government will support the provinces in boosting their anti-terrorism capabilities and that a comprehensive strategy will be employed to address the deteriorating law and order situation in unrest-plagued Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Terrorist acts prior to municipal and national elections, according to foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, were significant.
Haji Ghulam Ali, the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, denounced the explosion and asked people to provide blood to the injured, stating that doing so would be a “great favour for the police.”According to authorities, the injured are being transported to the Lady Reading Hospital.
13 of those injured, according to hospital authorities, are in a critical condition.In the hospitals of Peshawar, an emergency has been proclaimed. Citizens have been urged by the hospital to give blood in support of the victims.
Following the explosion in Peshawar, security has been stepped up in other significant cities, including Islamabad. Snipers have been placed at “important locations and buildings” in Islamabad, and security has been stepped up at all ports of entry and departure.
Azam Khan, the interim chief minister, denounced the attack and expressed sympathy to the grieving families.
Imran Khan, a former prime minister, vehemently denounced the terrorist attack at the mosque.
The relatives of the victims are in my prayers and thoughts. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf tweeted, “It is essential we strengthen our intelligence gathering & adequately equip our police forces to face the rising menace of terrorism.63 people were killed in a similar incident at a Shia mosque in the city’s Kocha Risaldar neighbourhood last year.
The TTP, which was formed in 2007 as an umbrella organisation for a number of militant groups, broke off a cease-fire with the federal government and instructed its militants to carry out terrorist strikes across the nation.
Assaults on military installations, the 2008 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, and numerous other violent incidents around Pakistan have been attributed to the organisation, which is thought to be affiliated with al-Qaeda. In 2009, an attack occurred against the army headquarters.At least 150 people, including 131 pupils, were killed when the Pakistani Taliban invaded the Army Public School (APS) in the northwest city of Peshawar in 2014. The incident was strongly denounced and sent shockwaves around the world.