CNN
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A deadly explosion at a mosque in Peshawar on Monday was the latest attack on the northwestern Pakistani city, killing at least 61 people and injuring about 157, according to Peshawar Police Chief Mohammad Aijaz Khan. bottom.
Rescue operations are currently underway at a mosque inside a police compound, mostly attended by law enforcement officers.
In a statement to CNN, Peshawar Police Chief Khan previously said the incident inside the Polis Lines Mosque was “probably a suicide attack”, echoing the words of Pakistani Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif.
“The brutal killing of a Muslim who bows down before Allah is contrary to the teachings of the Koran,” Sharif said in a statement. It is proof that there is no,” he added.
“Terrorists want to create fear by targeting those who carry out missions to defend Pakistan,” he continued.
“Anyone who fights Pakistan will be wiped from the page.”
A “comprehensive strategy” to restore law and order in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where Peshawar is located, is underway, Sharif said.
Conflicting accounts have emerged as to who was behind the attack. Pakistani Taliban spokesman Muhammad Khorasani, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP), denied involvement in the attack.
“Regarding the Peshawar incident, we consider it necessary to clarify that Teherik-e-Taliban Pakistan has nothing to do with this incident. Behavior in funeral parlors and other sacred places is a crime,” Horasani said in a statement late Monday.
He did not comment on earlier statements by TTP officials Sarbakh Momand and Omar Mukaram Kurasani who claimed the explosion was “revenge” for the deaths of TTP militants. Khalid Kolasani last year.
The TTP is a US-designated foreign terrorist organization operating in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Pakistani authorities have said an investigation is ongoing and have not confirmed either claim.
Prime Minister Sharif traveled to Peshawar after the deadly explosion and visited Lady Reading Hospital to see the wounded.
“I have returned from Peshawar. The scale of human tragedy is unimaginable. It’s definitely a security issue,” Sharif wrote on Twitter.
“My message to the perpetrators of today’s despicable incident is that the determination of our people must not be underestimated.
Former Pakistani leader Imran Khan also condemned the blast, tweeting that “improving intelligence gathering and properly equipping the police are essential to countering the growing threat of terrorism.”
Khan’s party, Pakistan Telik-e-Insaf, holds the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government.
Perched on the edge of Pakistan’s tribal districts that border Afghanistan, the city of Peshawar has been the scene of attacks by the TTP and other extremist groups.
The Islamic State (ISIS) has said it was responsible for an attack on a Shiite mosque in Peshawar in March 2022. The blast killed at least 61 people and injured another 196.
The TTP’s central spokesman, Muhammad Khurasani, has yet to comment on Monday’s attacks.
