A suicide attack at a mosque in the Police Lines area of Peshawar, Pakistan on January 30, 2023 killed two policemen and injured over 90 others during Zuhr prayers.
A powerful suicide blast inside a mosque in Peshawar’s Police Lines area on Monday killed 93 and injured 221. According to security officials, the suicide attacker was present in the front row during the prayers when he exploded himself, injuring dozens of faithful offering Zohr prayers. The injured are being shifted to the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar, the officials said.
The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has taken responsibility for the attack which took place inside the mosque in the high-security Police Lines area on Monday. According to security officials, the suicide attacker was present in the front row during the Zuhr (afternoon) prayers when he exploded himself. Sahibzada Noor Ul Amin, the Imam of the mosque, was also killed in the blast, local police said.
The blast occurred near the Police Lines area around 1.40 pm when the Zuhr prayers were being offered, the Dawn newspaper reported.
An emergency has been imposed in the locality and the area has been cordoned off.
A spokesperson of the hospital said that two policemen have been martyred in the blast and 120 injured have been brought to the facility. Hospital sources said 13 of those injured were in critical condition.
The hospital has appealed to citizens to donate blood for the victims.
Eyewitness account
An eyewitness told the media that he was going to the mosque when the explosion took place.
“I was going to the mosque when the explosion took place inside the mosque. It was a powerful mosque. There was smoke everywhere after the blast. When I got consciousness, I saw the roof of the building collapse. There were at least 120 people in the mosque when the incident took place. It was a suicide blast because the bomber was inside the mosque's inner courtyard. The Zohr prayers just started when it happened. There were mostly policemen among the injured.
Condemnations
Soon after the blast, PTI Chairman Imran Khan took to Twitter to condemn the suicide attack.
"My prayers and condolences go to victims’ families. It is imperative we improve our intelligence gathering and properly equip our police forces to combat the growing threat of terrorism," said Khan.
Modi and "India extends its deep condolences to the families of the victims of the terror attack in Peshawar yesterday. We strongly condemn this attack, which has taken the lives of so many people," tweets MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi
With inputs from PTI
(Edited by : Soham Shetty)
First Published: Jan 30, 2023 4:18 PM IST
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