Peshawar mosque bombing: Pakistan Taliban claims duty for blast that has killed greater than 60 individuals
CNN
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The Pakistani Taliban has claimed duty for a lethal blast in a mosque in Peshawar on Monday, the newest assault on town in northwest Pakistan.
A strong explosion killed at the least 61 individuals and left about 157 injured, in keeping with Peshawar Police Chief Mohammad Aijaz Khan.
Rescue operations are actually underway within the mosque, which is located inside a police compound and is usually attended by regulation enforcement officers.
Sarbakaf Mohmand and Omar Mukaram Khurasani – two officers from the Pakistani Taliban, generally known as Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) – put out statements saying the blast was “revenge” for the loss of life of TTP militant Khalid Khorasani final yr.
The TTP is a US-designated overseas terrorist group working in each Afghanistan and Pakistan. CNN can not independently confirm the group’s claims.
In an announcement to CNN, Khan, the Peshawar police chief, earlier stated the incident contained in the Police Lines Mosque was “probably a suicide attack,” echoing Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
“The brutal killing of Muslims prostrating before Allah is against the teachings of the Quran,” Sharif stated in an announcement, including that “targeting the House of Allah is proof that the attackers have nothing to do with Islam.”
“Terrorists want to create fear by targeting those who perform the duty of defending Pakistan,” the prime minister continued.
“Those who fight against Pakistan will be erased from the page.”
Sharif added that “the entire nation and institutions are united to end terrorism” and that there’s a “comprehensive strategy” within the works with a purpose to restore regulation and order within the northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the place Peshawar is situated.
The prime minister went to Peshawar following the lethal blast and visited Lady Reading Hospital to fulfill these injured, his workplace stated.
“Just returned from Peshawar. The sheer scale of the human tragedy is unimaginable. This is no less than an attack on Pakistan. The nation is overwhelmed by a deep sense of grief. I have no doubt terrorism is our foremost national security challenge,” Sharif posted on Twitter.
“My message to the perpetrators of today’s despicable incident is that you can’t underestimate the resolve of our people,” he added.
Pakistan’s former chief Imran Khan, whose occasion Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf holds the provincial authorities of Khyber Pakhtunkwa, additionally condemned the blast saying in a tweet that “it is imperative we improve our intelligence gathering & properly equip our police forces to combat the growing threat of terrorism.”
The metropolis of Peshawar – which is situated on the fringe of Pakistan’s tribal districts that border Afghanistan – has continuously been the location of assaults by the TTP and different militant teams.
The Islamic State (ISIS) stated they had been answerable for an assault on a Shia mosque in Peshawar in March 2022. That blast killed at the least 61 individuals and injured one other 196.
TTP’s central spokesman Muhammad Khurasani is but to touch upon Monday’s assault.