A suicide bomber targeted police at a crowded mosque in Peshawar, Pakistan, Monday, killing at least 47 people and injuring more than 150 others.
Most of the people who died were police officers, The Associated Press reported, in what is the latest attack against law enforcement in the city by Islamist militants. Hospital officials told Reuters that many of the wounded were in critical condition.
A Pakistani Taliban commander, Sarbakaf Mohmand, reportedly took responsibility for the attack on Twitter, the AP reported. His group, officially known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), comprises Sunni and sectarian Islamist groups dedicated to overthrowing the Pakistani government and imposing Islamic rule, Reuters reported. The group is separate from the Afghan Taliban but remains a close ally of the terrorist group that seized power in Afghanistan following the Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal from the region.
Mohmand said the attack was revenge for the killing of Abdul Wali, also known as Omar Khalid Khurasani, who was killed in Afghanistan in August 2022, the AP reported.
The attack occurred during noon prayers and was strong enough to cause a wall to collapse on top of people who were worshiping. It is unclear how the bomber was able to get into the building, which is located inside a fortified compound that includes the Sunni mosque as well as the headquarters for the provincial police force and a counter-terrorism department, Reuters reported.
“We’re getting that the terrorist was standing in the first row,” Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said, according to the outlet.
More than 300 worshipers were inside the mosque for noon prayers, with even more coming in, when the bomber detonated his explosives vest, the AP reported. Police told the outlet that rescuers worked quickly to remove debris to reach worshippers trapped under the rubble.
The latest attack was the city’s deadliest since March 2022, when Islamic State militants committed a suicide bombing at a Shi’ite Muslim mosque in Peshawar during a prayer service, killing at least 58 people and injuring nearly 200, Reuters reported.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif vowed “stern action” against the group behind the attack and traveled to Peshawar to visit those injured. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan also spoke out against what he referred to as a “terrorist suicide attack” on Twitter, the AP reported.
“My prayers & condolences go to victims (sic) families,” Khan wrote. “It is imperative we improve our intelligence gathering & properly equip our police forces to combat the growing threat of terrorism.”
Khan lost power last April when he received a no-confidence vote in parliament, leading to Sharif taking control of the government.