At least 61 people killed, 150 injured in suicide blast at Pakistan mosque

TIL Desk/World/Peshawar/ A Taliban suicide bomber blew himself up in a mosque packed with worshippers during afternoon prayers on Monday in the high-security zone in Pakistan’s north-western Peshawar city, killing at least 61 people and wounding more than 150 others, mostly policemen, security and health officials said.

The blast occurred inside the mosque in the Police Lines area around 1.40 pm when worshippers — which included personnel of the police, army and bomb disposal squad — were offering the zuhr (afternoon) prayers. The bomber who was present in the front row blew himself up, officials said. Lady Reading Hospital officials said 61 people have died so far. However, the Peshawar police has released a list of 38 victims.

There were mostly policemen among the injured. A brother of the slain commander of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Umar Khalid Khurasani claimed that the suicide attack was part of the revenge attack for his brother who was killed last August in Afghanistan. The outlawed TTP, known as the Pakistani Taliban, has carried out a number of suicide attacks in the past, targeting security personnel.