Most of the casualties were police officers. It was not clear how the bomber was able to slip into the walled compound, which houses the police headquarters in the northwestern city of Peshawar and is itself located in a high-security zone with other government buildings.
Sarbakaf Mohmand, a commander for the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, claimed responsibility for the attack in a post on Twitter.
But hours later, TTP spokesperson Mohammad Khurasani distanced the group from the bombing, saying it was not its policy to target mosques, seminaries and religious places, adding that those taking part in such acts could face punitive action under TTP’s policy.
| From the NY Post: |
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistain's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire...killed at least 32 people on Monday, the latest attack targeting police in this northwestern city where Islamist snuffies remain active.
Hospital officials said at least 147 people were maimed, with many of them at death's door.
Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif called the blast a suicide kaboom. There were at least 260 people in the mosque, police official Sikandar Khan added.
No one has grabbed credit for the bombing, which destroyed the mosque during noon prayers, causing a wall to collapse on top of worshippers.
"We’re getting that the terrorist was standing in the first row," Defense Minister Khawaja Asif told Geo TV.
Dawn has brief video of the interior afterward, adding:
While the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) denied responsibility for the attack, sources earlier indicated that it might have been the handiwork of some local faction of the outlawed group.TTP spokesperson Muhammad Khurasani while disowning the attack in a tweet said, “TTP guidelines strictly prohibit attacks on mosques and public places”.
Earlier, a spokesperson for the TTP’s Mohmand chapter had claimed responsibility for the attack and termed it revenge for the killing of Khalid Omar Khorasani in Afghanistan last year.
| Update from Dawn at 10:15 a.m. ET: |
The death toll from the suicide attack on a mosque in Peshawar’s Police Lines area a day earlier rose to 100 on Tuesday after more bodies were recovered from the attack site.
Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) spokesperson Mohammad Asim said that 100 dead bodies had been brought to the medical facility. In a statement, he said 53 injured citizens were currently being treated seven of whom had been admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU).
He said that most of the injured were out of danger, adding that all the injured were being provided medical facilities free-of-cost.
On Monday, 59 people, mostly police officials, were martyred and over 150 were injured after an explosion ripped through a mosque in Peshawar’s Red Zone area. The powerful blast blew away the wall of the prayer hall and an inner roof.
The outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack. It later distanced itself from it but sources earlier indicated that it might have been the handiwork of some local faction of the outlawed group.
Peshawar Division Commissioner Riaz Mehsud said that the rescue and search operation at the blast site has been completed, after almost 24 hours.