Staff Report
PESHAWAR: The death toll in a blast inside a mosque in Peshawar’s Police Lines area soared to at least 60, and 157 were injured, officials said.
Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) spokesman, Mohammad Asim, confirmed the number of casualties.
Peshawar Commissioner Riaz Mehsud said a rescue operation was underway inside the mosque as several people were buried under the debris.
“An emergency has been declared at hospitals across Peshawar city, and injured people are being provided the best medical facilities,” the senior official said.
The outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the blast.
Talking to the media, Peshawar Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Muhammad Ijaz Khan said that the mosque’s roof collapsed after the suicide blast. “Several soldiers are still stuck under the rubble, and rescuers are trying to retrieve them.”
The CCPO said the mosque’s main hall — which had a capacity of 250 to 300 people — had collapsed, but the rest of the mosque’s building was still intact.
To a question regarding the nature of the blast, the CCPO said: “The smell of explosives has been detected, but it is too early to say anything about the nature of the explosion.”
Ijaz Khan said around 400 police personnel were in the vicinity of the mosque at the time of the blast. “It is apparent that the blast occurred due to a security lapse,” the CCPO told the media.
He added that the dead bodies and injured persons had been shifted to the LRH.
Peshawar residents asked to donate blood
Standing alongside Ijaz Khan, KP Governor Haji Ghulam Ali condemned the blast and asked the people of Peshawar to donate blood for the injured. He said that it would be a “huge favour for the police.”
Former KP chief minister Mahmood Khan also urged the PTI workers in Peshawar and adjoining areas to reach LRH to donate blood to the victims.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called on PML-N workers to donate blood for those injured in the blast, especially those with O negative blood group.
At the same time, PM Shehbaz also urged the nation to reach LRH without any delay and play a role in saving precious lives.
During the past few months, Pakistan’s law and order situation has worsened, with terrorist groups executing attacks with near impunity across the country.
TTP claims responsibility for Peshawar blast
Since the talks with the TTP broke down in November, the militant group has intensified its attacks, particularly targeting the police in KP and areas bordering Afghanistan. Insurgents in Balochistan have also increased their violent activities and formalized a nexus with the outlawed TTP.
On January 22, a police vehicle narrowly escaped a bomb blast in Peshawar’s Badaber area. A day earlier, a police official was martyred, and two others were injured when unidentified assailants attacked a police post in the Dheri Zardad locality of Charsadda.
On January 14, a deputy superintendent and two constables were martyred when militants, armed with automatic assault weapons, targeted the Sarband police station on the outskirts of the province’s capital, Peshawar, late at night.
