Pakistan mosque blast killing 100 was ‘revenge attack’ towards police: Cops

A Pakistan police chief mentioned that the blast in a Peshawar mosque was a focused revenge assault.

New Delhi,UPDATED: Feb 1, 2023 13:04 IST

Locals on the website after a suicide blast ripped by means of a mosque throughout afternoon prayers, in Peshawar, Pakistan. (Photo: PTI)

By India Today Web Desk: An explosion at a mosque in Pakistan’s northern metropolis of Peshawar that killed 100 folks, together with an imam, and injured over 150 others, was a focused revenge assault, a police chief informed AFP on Tuesday.

Around 400 police personnel have been current for afternoon prayers on the mosque’s compound on Monday in Pakistan’s Peshawar when a suicide bomber blew himself up contained in the mosque.

City police chief Muhammad Ijaz Khan informed AFP that they’re being focused as a result of they’re on the entrance line taking motion towards militants.

“The purpose was to demoralise us as a force,” City police chief Muhammad Ijaz Khan mentioned.

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Rescue operations ended on Tuesday after bringing out corpses from the wreck of the mosque and speeding those that might be saved to hospitals.

Wajahat Ali, a 23-year-old police constable whose toes have been damaged within the blast, informed AFP from hospital that he had “remained trapped under the rubble with a dead body over me for seven hours. I had lost all hope of survival.”

Shahid Ali, one other survivor, mentioned the explosion happened seconds after the imam began prayers, AFP reported.

Low-level militancy, usually concentrating on safety checkpoints, has been steadily rising within the areas close to Peshawar that border Afghanistan because the Taliban seized management of Kabul in August 2021.

The assaults are claimed principally by the Pakistani Taliban, in addition to the native chapter of the Islamic State, however mass casualty assaults stay uncommon.

The head of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province police power, Moazzam Jah Ansari, informed reporters {that a} suicide bomber had entered the mosque as a visitor, carrying 10-12 kilogrammes (about 22-26 kilos) of “explosive material in bits and pieces”.

Geo News stories said a ‘suicide attacker’ blew himself up contained in the mosque throughout prayers. The suicide attacker was current within the entrance row in the course of the prayers when he exploded himself, information company PTI quoted safety officers as saying.

Following the blast, the nation has been placed on excessive alert, with checkpoints ramped up and additional safety forces deployed. In Islamabad, snipers have been deployed on buildings and at metropolis entrance factors.

“An emergency has been imposed at hospitals across the city and injured persons are being provided the best medical facilities,” Peshawar Commissioner Riaz Mehsood was quoted as saying by Dawn.

(with inputs from businesses)

Edited By:

Manisha Pandey

Published On:

Feb 1, 2023