By Associated Press
PESHAWAR: Pakistani authorities scrambled Tuesday to determine how a suicide bomber was able to carry out one of the country’s deadliest militant attacks in years, unleashing an explosion in a crowded mosque inside a highly secured police compound in the city of Peshawar. The death toll from the blast climbed to 100.
Monday morning’s bombing, which left at least 225 wounded, raised alarm among officials over a major security breach at a time when the Pakistani Taliban, the main anti-government militant group, has stepped up attacks, particularly targeting the police and the military.
Who carried out the bombing was unclear. A commander from the Pakistani Taliban, known by the acronym TTP, claimed responsibility, but a spokesman for the group later distanced the TTP from the carnage, saying it was not its policy to attack mosques.
Rescue officials on Tuesday recovered the severed head of the suspected suicide bomber who they believe blew himself up, causing the roof to collapse on the worshippers, officials said.
Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Peshawar Mohammad Aijaz Khan told Geo TV that the blast appeared to be a suicide attack and the head of the suspected bomber was recovered at the site in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
More than 300 worshippers were praying in the Sunni mosque, with more approaching, when the bomber set off his explosives vest, officials said. The blast blew off part of the roof, and what was left caved in, injuring many more, according to Zafar Khan, a police officer.
Rescuers worked through the night and into Tuesday morning, removing mounds of debris to reach worshippers still trapped under the rubble. The death toll rose as more bodies were found and several of the critically injured died, said Mohammad Asim, a government hospital spokesman in Peshawar.
WATCH
Most of the victims were police officers, he said.
Counter-terrorism police are investigating how the bomber was able to reach the mosque, which is inside a walled-off police headquarters compound called Police Lines. The compound is located in a heavy security district of Peshawar that includes other government buildings.
“Yes, it was a security lapse,” said Ghulam Ali, the provincial governor in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, of which Peshawar is the capital.
Akhtar Ali Shah, a former regional interior secretary once based in Peshawar, said it “was not a spur-of-the-moment attack.”
“It was the handiwork of a well-organised group,” he told The Associated Press. He said those behind the attack must have had inside help to gain access to the compound and probably entered it several times for reconnaissance or even to plant explosives ahead of time.
ALSO READ | ‘Pakistan paying the price for suing for peace with terrorist group’
“It’s not a security lapse, it’s a security breach,” he said. “From all entry points, there are multiple layers of security you have to cross” with ID checks.
Talat Masood, a retired army general and senior security analyst said Monday’s suicide bombing showed “negligence.”
“When we know that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan is active, and when we know that they have threatened to carry out attacks, there should have been more security at the police compound in Peshawar,” he told the AP, using the official name of the Pakistani Taliban.
The military’s media wing declined an Associated Press interview request for the chief of army staff. Asim Munir, who took office in November, has yet to do any media appearances.
Kamran Bangash, a provincial secretary-general with the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, called for an investigation and blamed the instability on the government of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
The government “has failed to improve the economy and law and order situation, and it should resign to pave the way for snap parliamentary elections,” he said. The party’s leader, former Prime Minister Imran Khan, denounced the attack.
The bombing comes as Pakistan is contending with political and economic crises from a disputed election and from unprecedented floods last summer that killed 1,739 people, destroyed more than 2 million homes, and at one point submerged as much as a third of the country.
Sharif visited a hospital in Peshawar after the bombing and vowed “stern action” against those behind the attack. On Tuesday he dismissed criticism of his government and called for unity. “My message to all political forces is one of unity against anti-Pakistan elements. We can fight our political fights later,” he tweeted.
Shortly after the explosion, Pakistan Taliban commander Sarbakaf Mohmand claimed responsibility for the attack in a post on Twitter.
But hours later, TTP spokesperson Mohammad Khurasani said it was not the group’s policy to target mosques, seminaries and religious places and that those taking part in such acts could face punitive action under TTP’s policy. His statement did not address why a TTP commander had claimed responsibility for the bombing.
ALSO READ | Peshawar mosque blast that killed 100 was ‘targeted revenge attack’: Pakistan police
Pakistan, which is mostly Sunni Muslim, has seen a surge in militant attacks since November when the Pakistani Taliban ended a cease-fire with government forces.
The Pakistani Taliban are the dominant militant group in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and Peshawar has been the scene of frequent attacks. In 2014, a Pakistani Taliban faction attacked an army-run school in Peshawar and killed 154, mostly schoolchildren.
But the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, a regional affiliate of the Islamic State group and a rival of the Taliban, has also been behind deadly attacks in Pakistan in recent years. Overall, violence has increased since the Afghan Taliban seized power in neighbouring Afghanistan in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO troops pulled out of the country after 20 years of war.
The TTP is separate from but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban. It has waged an insurgency in Pakistan in the past 15 years, seeking stricter enforcement of Islamic laws, the release of its members in government custody and a reduction in the Pakistani military presence in areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province it has long used as its base.
Earlier this month, the Pakistani Taliban claimed one of its members shot and killed two intelligence officers, including the director of the counterterrorism wing of the Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency. Security officials said Monday the gunman was killed in a shootout near the Afghan border.
The Taliban-run Afghan Foreign Ministry said it was “saddened to learn that numerous people lost their lives” in Peshawar and condemned attacks on worshippers as contrary to the teachings of Islam.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is on a visit to the Middle East, tweeted his condolences, saying the bombing in Peshawar was a “horrific attack.”
“Terrorism for any reason at any place is indefensible,” he said.
Worshipers at a mosque in Peshawar endured a horrific attack today, which killed and injured many. Terrorism for any reason at any place is indefensible. I extend my deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims. https://t.co/bPvvcKdwfN
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) January 30, 2023
PESHAWAR: Pakistani authorities scrambled Tuesday to determine how a suicide bomber was able to carry out one of the country’s deadliest militant attacks in years, unleashing an explosion in a crowded mosque inside a highly secured police compound in the city of Peshawar. The death toll from the blast climbed to 100.
Monday morning’s bombing, which left at least 225 wounded, raised alarm among officials over a major security breach at a time when the Pakistani Taliban, the main anti-government militant group, has stepped up attacks, particularly targeting the police and the military.
Who carried out the bombing was unclear. A commander from the Pakistani Taliban, known by the acronym TTP, claimed responsibility, but a spokesman for the group later distanced the TTP from the carnage, saying it was not its policy to attack mosques.
Rescue officials on Tuesday recovered the severed head of the suspected suicide bomber who they believe blew himself up, causing the roof to collapse on the worshippers, officials said.
Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Peshawar Mohammad Aijaz Khan told Geo TV that the blast appeared to be a suicide attack and the head of the suspected bomber was recovered at the site in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
More than 300 worshippers were praying in the Sunni mosque, with more approaching, when the bomber set off his explosives vest, officials said. The blast blew off part of the roof, and what was left caved in, injuring many more, according to Zafar Khan, a police officer.
Rescuers worked through the night and into Tuesday morning, removing mounds of debris to reach worshippers still trapped under the rubble. The death toll rose as more bodies were found and several of the critically injured died, said Mohammad Asim, a government hospital spokesman in Peshawar.
WATCH
Most of the victims were police officers, he said.
Counter-terrorism police are investigating how the bomber was able to reach the mosque, which is inside a walled-off police headquarters compound called Police Lines. The compound is located in a heavy security district of Peshawar that includes other government buildings.
“Yes, it was a security lapse,” said Ghulam Ali, the provincial governor in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, of which Peshawar is the capital.
Akhtar Ali Shah, a former regional interior secretary once based in Peshawar, said it “was not a spur-of-the-moment attack.”
“It was the handiwork of a well-organised group,” he told The Associated Press. He said those behind the attack must have had inside help to gain access to the compound and probably entered it several times for reconnaissance or even to plant explosives ahead of time.
ALSO READ | ‘Pakistan paying the price for suing for peace with terrorist group’
“It’s not a security lapse, it’s a security breach,” he said. “From all entry points, there are multiple layers of security you have to cross” with ID checks.
Talat Masood, a retired army general and senior security analyst said Monday’s suicide bombing showed “negligence.”
“When we know that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan is active, and when we know that they have threatened to carry out attacks, there should have been more security at the police compound in Peshawar,” he told the AP, using the official name of the Pakistani Taliban.
The military’s media wing declined an Associated Press interview request for the chief of army staff. Asim Munir, who took office in November, has yet to do any media appearances.
Kamran Bangash, a provincial secretary-general with the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, called for an investigation and blamed the instability on the government of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
The government “has failed to improve the economy and law and order situation, and it should resign to pave the way for snap parliamentary elections,” he said. The party’s leader, former Prime Minister Imran Khan, denounced the attack.
The bombing comes as Pakistan is contending with political and economic crises from a disputed election and from unprecedented floods last summer that killed 1,739 people, destroyed more than 2 million homes, and at one point submerged as much as a third of the country.
Sharif visited a hospital in Peshawar after the bombing and vowed “stern action” against those behind the attack. On Tuesday he dismissed criticism of his government and called for unity. “My message to all political forces is one of unity against anti-Pakistan elements. We can fight our political fights later,” he tweeted.
Shortly after the explosion, Pakistan Taliban commander Sarbakaf Mohmand claimed responsibility for the attack in a post on Twitter.
But hours later, TTP spokesperson Mohammad Khurasani said it was not the group’s policy to target mosques, seminaries and religious places and that those taking part in such acts could face punitive action under TTP’s policy. His statement did not address why a TTP commander had claimed responsibility for the bombing.
ALSO READ | Peshawar mosque blast that killed 100 was ‘targeted revenge attack’: Pakistan police
Pakistan, which is mostly Sunni Muslim, has seen a surge in militant attacks since November when the Pakistani Taliban ended a cease-fire with government forces.
The Pakistani Taliban are the dominant militant group in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and Peshawar has been the scene of frequent attacks. In 2014, a Pakistani Taliban faction attacked an army-run school in Peshawar and killed 154, mostly schoolchildren.
But the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, a regional affiliate of the Islamic State group and a rival of the Taliban, has also been behind deadly attacks in Pakistan in recent years. Overall, violence has increased since the Afghan Taliban seized power in neighbouring Afghanistan in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO troops pulled out of the country after 20 years of war.
The TTP is separate from but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban. It has waged an insurgency in Pakistan in the past 15 years, seeking stricter enforcement of Islamic laws, the release of its members in government custody and a reduction in the Pakistani military presence in areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province it has long used as its base.
Earlier this month, the Pakistani Taliban claimed one of its members shot and killed two intelligence officers, including the director of the counterterrorism wing of the Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency. Security officials said Monday the gunman was killed in a shootout near the Afghan border.
The Taliban-run Afghan Foreign Ministry said it was “saddened to learn that numerous people lost their lives” in Peshawar and condemned attacks on worshippers as contrary to the teachings of Islam.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is on a visit to the Middle East, tweeted his condolences, saying the bombing in Peshawar was a “horrific attack.”
“Terrorism for any reason at any place is indefensible,” he said.
Worshipers at a mosque in Peshawar endured a horrific attack today, which killed and injured many. Terrorism for any reason at any place is indefensible. I extend my deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims. https://t.co/bPvvcKdwfN
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) January 30, 2023
