At least 25 dead and 125 injured in a mosque bombing in Pakistan

Anadolu Agency reported that at least 25 people were killed and 125 others injured in an apparent suicide attack targeting a mosque in Peshawar, northwest Pakistan, on Monday.

The attacker detonated his explosive belt while the worshipers—including several policemen from nearby police offices—were praying inside.

Local police officer Zafar Khan said the blast caused the roof of the mosque to collapse, collapsing and injuring many.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, which took place in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan.

One of the survivors, police officer Mina Gul, 38, said he was inside the mosque when the bomb exploded.

He said he did not know how he escaped unharmed. He said he could hear screams and screams after the bomb went off. Gul added that the mosque was home to more than 150 worshipers when the bomb exploded.

Khan said rescuers were trying to take the injured to a nearby hospital. He said that a number of the wounded are listed in critical condition in a hospital and there are fears that the death toll will rise.

Suspicions of such attacks fall most often on the Pakistani Taliban, which in the past have claimed responsibility for similar bombings.

The Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, is a separate group but also a close ally of the Afghan Taliban, which seized power in neighboring Afghanistan in August 2021 as US and NATO forces were in the final stages. Their withdrawal from the country after 20 years of war.

The Pakistani Taliban have waged an insurgency in Pakistan for the past 15 years, fighting to implement their own version of Islamic laws in the country, release their members in government custody, and reduce Pakistan’s military presence in the former country. tribal areas.