Peshawar Blast: A massive explosion rips through a (Shia) mosque in Pakistan’s Peshawar city, killing at least 30. Death toll likely to mount according to officials. No group has claimed responsibility so far but it’s either ISIS or TTP, who have the license to bomb mosques and kill worshippers.
At least 30 people have been reported killed and another 80 injured in a suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Friday, with rescuers urgently transporting the dead and injured from the scene.
An eyewitness identified as Ali Asghar, revealed that “before Friday prayers, an unknown gunman entered the mosque with a pistol and started shooting at worshippers one after the other,”
“Then he blew himself up,” the eyewitness said.
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The attack occurred on the first day of a cricket Test match between Pakistan and Australia in Rawalpindi, about 190 kilometers (120 miles) to the east. Australia hasn’t toured Pakistan in nearly a quarter-century due to security concerns.
According to Muhammad Ali Saif, a spokesman for the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, “more than 30” people were killed and 80 others were injured in the bomb near Peshawar’s Kocha Risaldar, which is around the same distance west of Islamabad.
He stated, “It was a suicide attack.”
An AFP correspondent witnessed body parts strewn over the scene, where police were holding anxious family members back. Nearby buildings’ windows were blown out by the blast.
“Before he entered the mosque, I noticed a man fire at two police officers.” “I heard a tremendous blast seconds afterwards,” claimed witness Zahid Khan.
The Peshawar Blast death toll could be greater than 30, according to Peshawar police chief Muhammad Ijaz Khan, who also stated that two assailants were involved.
Two police officers were allegedly shot at the mosque’s entrance, he said.
“One of the officers died on the spot, while the other was seriously injured,” he claimed.
“We have declared an emergency at the hospitals,” Muhammad Asim Khan, a spokesman for Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital, said, “as more injured people are being brought in.”
The attack was “highly condemned,” by Prime Minister Imran Khan’s office. This was revealed in a statement by the spokesperson to the prime minister.
The alleged suicide attack was not immediately claimed by any organisation.
Source: Digital Journal.
