At least 59 killed, dozens wounded after blast at mosque in Pakistan’s Peshawar

A suicide bombing at a crowded mosque in Pakistan’s Peshawar killed at 59 people on Monday, the latest attack targeting police in this northwestern city where Islamist militants remain active.

Eyewitnesses told Radio Mashaal that suicide bombers standing in the first row behind the imam detonated explosive vests as worshippers, including many policemen and other officials, had gathered for afternoon prayers at the Police Line Mosque on January 30.

The mosque was located close to a police housing block, and there were some 260 people inside when the blast occurred, according to police.

#PeshawarBlast
Blast inside PoliceLines Mosque, during #Zuhar prayers. At least 50 injured. Over a dozen critically injured shifted to nearby #LRH and other hospitals including #HMC. Majority of the injured are police personnel. #Terrorism #PeshawarUnderAttack #Jan30 #Pakistan pic.twitter.com/qOpZguNEBY

— Shabbir Hussain Imam (@peshavar) January 30, 2023

The attacker appeared to have passed through several barricades manned by security forces to get into the “Red Zone” compound that houses police and counter-terrorism offices in the volatile northwestern city of Peshawar, police said.

“It was a suicide bombing,” Peshawar Police Chief Ijaz Khan told Reuters. Many of the 170 wounded people were in critical condition, he said.

The death toll rose to 59 after several people succumbed to their wounds, hospital official Mohammad Asim said in a statement.

The bombing happened a day before an International Monetary Fund mission to Islamabad to initiate talks on unlocking funding for the South Asian country’s economy, which is enduring a balance of payments crisis.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack.

The bomber detonated his load at the moment hundreds of people lined up to say their prayers, officials said.

“We have found traces of explosives,” Khan told reporters, adding that a security lapse had clearly occurred as the bomber had slipped through the most secured area of the compound.

An inquiry was under way into how the attacker breached such an elite security cordon and whether there was any inside help.

Khan said the mosque hall was packed with up to 400 worshippers, and that most of the dead were police officers.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, the worst in Peshawar since March 2022 when an Islamic State suicide bombing killed at least 58 people in a Shi’ite Muslim mosque during Friday prayers.

Peshawar, which straddles the edge of Pakistan’s tribal districts bordering Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, is frequently targeted by Islamist militant groups including Islamic State and the Pakistani Taliban.