Death toll from attack on mosque in Peshawar’s Police Lines rises to 87
Sirajuddin Published January 31, 2023 Updated 9 minutes ago
The death toll from the attack on a mosque in Peshawar’s Police Lines area a day earlier rose to 87 on Tuesday after more bodies were recovered from the attack site, a spokesperson for the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) confirmed.
On Friday, 59 people, mostly police officials, were martyred and over 150 were injured after an explosion ripped through a mosque in Peshawar’s Red Zone area.
The outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack. It later distanced itself from it.
In a statement issued today, LRH spokesperson Muhammad Asim said that all the deceased persons have been identified, while 57 of those injured were under treatment at the facility.
He added that a total of 157 injured people were brought to the hospital on Monday and most of them had been sent back home after medical aid.
Meanwhile, Rescue 1122 spokesperson Bilal Faizi told Dawn.com that a rescue operation at the blast site was under way for the past 18 hours.
Nature of blast yet to be determined
A police report issued after the attack, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, said the explosion occurred inside the main hall of a mosque — which has a capacity of 300 to 350 men — located in the Police Lines area.
The locality comprises headquarters of the Capital City Police, Frontier Reserve Police, Elite Police Force, Counter Terrorism Department, Tele Communication Branch, RRF and SCU etc, it stated.
The statement said that the blast caused the roof of the mosque to collapse and a rescue operation was underway by the Pakistan Army and Rescue 1122, for retrieval of casualties.
“A severed head has been recovered from inside the debris. The use of explosives in the incident has been confirmed, while other factors are being evaluated to confirm the nature of the blast,” it said.
The report added that suicide bombing could not be “ruled out” and investigation by various teams was under way.
More to follow
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also https://www.arabnews.com/node/2241391/world