At least 59 people were killed in a suicide bombing at a mosque in north-west Pakistan. Another 157 believers were injured in the attack in the city of Peshawar on Monday, officials from the German Press Agency said. The attack therefore occurred in a high-security zone, which also includes many police buildings. A police spokesman said many police officers were among the victims.
As reported by the Pakistani TV station Geo TV, among others, the Pakistani Taliban movement (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack on the mosque, which is located in a security zone in Peshawar. At the end of last year, the TTP, which is independent of the Islamist Taliban government in neighboring Afghanistan, canceled a ceasefire with the government in Islamabad. Since then, they have claimed responsibility for several attacks.
A police officer who survived the attack during midday prayers told Pakistani TV station Geo News: “It was a powerful explosion, smoke was everywhere.” Rescuers tried to free the people trapped under the rubble. At the time of the attack, around 300 believers are said to have stayed there. Hospitals called for blood donations after the attack.
It was one of the deadliest attacks against Pakistan’s security forces in recent years. In Pakistan, the vast majority of the population of more than 230 million people is Muslim. About two million people live in the city of Peshawar.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said during a visit to a local hospital. “Terrorists want to create fear by targeting those who have a duty to defend Pakistan,” he said. Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah announced an investigation.
The German ambassador to Pakistan, Alfred Grannas, condemned the attack, as did the United Nations, which condemned the suicide attack “in the strongest terms”. “It is particularly despicable that such an attack took place in a place of worship,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Freedom of religion, freedom of belief and the ability to worship in peace are fundamental human rights.
For a long time, Peshawar was the troubled region of Pakistan
Peshawar in the border province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was a region of unrest in Pakistan for a long time – after a military offensive against Islamist terrorist groups in 2014, things have calmed down. In recent years, however, there have been more attacks. In March 2022, an IS terrorist militia blew himself up in Peshawar, killing more than 60 people. The tense security situation in Pakistan has also been felt in the capital Islamabad in recent months. There were numerous checkpoints and increased military presence in the metropolis.
The TTP is an umbrella organization of militant Islamist groups that is said to have several thousand fighters. The military expelled them to Afghanistan between 2008 and 2014. Since the Afghan Taliban took power in Kabul, the TTP has regrouped in its former strongholds on the Afghan border.