At least 93 people were martyred and more than hundred injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a mosque in Peshawar Police Lines on Monday.
According to police sources, the suicide attack blast inside the mosque of Police Lines left 93 people dead, including a few high-ranking police officials. According to initial reports, the blast occurred during the noon prayer, the nature of which is being ascertained. After the explosion, police and other law enforcement agencies cordoned off the area. Evidence was collected by Bomb Disposal Squad. After the blast, an emergency was declared in all hospitals of Peshawar while the injured and dead bodies were shifted to Lady Reading Hospital. An appeal was made to donate blood to the injured in Lady Reading Hospital.
Muhammad Asim, the spokesperson of Lady Reading Hospital, confirmed the causalities. The initial report reads, “Out of the injured brought to the hospital, 10 are critical and in need of urgent surgery in operation, while the condition of 15 injured is critical but are out of imminent danger.” According to the police, it is feared that heavy explosives were used in the attack, due to the intensity of which the canteen adjacent to the mosque collapsed. A crane has been ordered to remove the debris. CTD office is also located behind the mosque. GT Road was closed for all kind traffic near Bala Hisar.
The police headquarters in Peshawar is in one of the most tightly controlled areas of the city, housing intelligence and counter-terrorism bureaus, and is next door to the regional secretariat. The explosion took place at around 1:40 pm as Zuhr prayers were being offered. Personnel of the police, army and Bomb Disposal Squad were present inside the mosque.
The attacker entered the mosque along with the worshipers through the main gate of the police station and crossed three to four security lines. After the explosion, the main gate of the police station was closed. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the suicide blast and said that the brutal killing of Muslims while prostrating before Allah is against the teachings of the Quran. He also said that killing innocent people in the name of Islam has nothing to do with the tenants of Islam.
Caretaker Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Muhammad Azam Khan condemned the attack and directed the rescue agencies to speed up the rescue activities and said that emergency measures should be taken to transfer the injured to the hospital immediately. PDM Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman strongly condemned the bomb attack in Peshawar mosque and said that the attack on a place of worship and during worship is the height of brutality, and the nation should fight such conspiratorial elements with mutual unity and consensus. “I pray to Allah for forgiveness for those martyred in the attack and for the recovery of the injured.”
Meanwhile, after the deadliest suicide attack Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) police high-command have sent alert warnings to all the sensitive police stations across the province to beef up security and tighten search operations against the alleged perpetrators and miscreants.
Meanwhile, two suicide bombers blew themselves up during a Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) operation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’sSwab district. According to the police, the CTD conducted an intelligence-based operation (IBO) after receiving information regarding the presence of militants in the city. As the CTD officers approached suspected hideout, the terrorists opened fire. A heavy contingent of police surrounded the area and a heavy exchange of fire took place between the law enforcers and the terrorists.
Failing to find an escape route, the two suicide bombers blew themselves up while one terrorist was arrested and transferred to an unknown location. In a separate development, the Punjab CTD gunned down two suspected terrorists in a raid near Dera Ghazi Khan and rounded up two others, who had managed to escape during the operation, in Rahim Yar Khan. Acting on a tip-off, the CTD carried out the raid in Jhangi area of Vehowa tehsil in Taunsa district near Dera Ghazi Khan and killed two suspected terrorists. Their two other accomplices managed to escape taking advantage of the darkness in the area.
However, the CTD conducted a search operation, carrying out raids at 36 different locations and checking 512 people through biometric screening, eventually arresting them both in Rahim Yar Khan within 24 hours.
