Categories: International

Peshawar: 32 dead, 150 wounded in large explosion at Pakistan mosque

Mandatory Credit: Photo by BILAWAL ARBAB/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock (13746749s) Rescue workers at the scene of a blast at a Mosque, in Peshawar, Pakistan, 30 January 2023. At least 28 worshippers were killed and dozens injured in a blast during prayers at a Mosque situated in Police lines in Peshawar, Ghulam Ali, Governor of KPK province said. Blast at a Mosque in Peshawar, Pakistan - 30 Jan 2023

At least 32 people have died and around 150 are wounded after a suicide bomb attack on a mosque located in Peshawar’s Police Lines area during Monday afternoon prayers.

Witnesses say the attacker walked to the front row of the mosque before detonating a suicide vest, with the force of the blast causing the roof of the building to collapse.

Many of the victims were police officers, with the mosque located inside a highly fortified compound that includes a counter-terror department and the provincial police headquarters.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for what officials said was likely a targeted attack on the security forces and one of the worst suicide bombings in recent years, although the Pakistani Taliban have been blamed for similar suicide attacks in the past.

Prime minister Shehbaz Sharif described the incident as a suicide attack and called on members of his Pakistan Muslim League (N) party livinng in Peshawar to donate blood.