Suicide Bombing of Shiite Mosque Kills 56 in Pakistan

The deadly attack occurred during afternoon prayers in a crowded neighborhood in central Peshawar, the capital of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region.

Mohammad Asim, a spokesman for the nearby Lady Reading Hospital, confirmed the casualties. He told reporters that more than a dozen of the injured were in critical condition and the death toll could increase.

Haroon Rashid, a senior police officer, told reporters that the attacker stormed the mosque in the famous Qissa Khwani Bazaar, shooting and killing two police guards at the gate before detonating his vest inside the main hall packed with hundreds of worshippers.

A witness, Shayan Haider, had been preparing to enter the mosque when a powerful explosion threw him onto the street.

“I opened my eyes and there was dust and bodies everywhere,” the English-language Dawn newspaper quoted Haider as saying.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan strongly condemned the attack and directed the authorities to provide urgent care to those affected, his office said.

“We now have all info regarding origins of where the terrorists came from & are going after them with full force,” he said, without elaborating.

Blood donated by people of Peshawar. Many still are lined up outside Lady Reading Hospital to donate irrespective of their sects.
Those who wanted to divide us in the name of sectarianism in the wake of Peshawar attack should see this.

Pakistan is united 🇵🇰#Peshawar pic.twitter.com/LFRqOjmZpv

— Farzana Shah (@janashah_1) March 4, 2022

The attack was one of the deadliest in Pakistan in recent years.

Attacks on Shiite places of worship are common in Pakistan, which is a predominately Sunni Muslim nation. Militants linked to the Islamic State militant group and the outlawed Pakistani Taliban have carried out similar attacks.

Friday’s deadly blast drew international condemnation.

“Houses of worship should be havens, not targets,” tweeted U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. “I condemn today’s horrific attack on a mosque in Peshawar, Pakistan, during Friday prayers.”

The U.N. chief expressed his condolences to the victims’ families and solidarity with the people of Pakistan.

“The United States condemns the heinous and cowardly attack targeting a mosque in Peshawar,” said Angela Aggeler, the U.S. embassy chargé d’affaires. “We offer our deepest condolences to the victims and their families,” she added in a statement tweeted by the embassy.

Friday’s attack came while Australian cricket players are in Pakistan for a bilateral tournament series, the first visit by an Australian team to the terrorism-stricken South Asian nation in 24 years. The first match between the two countries began under tight security Friday in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

Major cricket-playing countries have avoided sending their teams to Pakistan since a deadly terrorist attack on the visiting Sri Lankan team in the eastern city of Lahore in 2009.

Probe Into The Attack

Police and investigative agencies on Saturday broadened the spectrum of their probe into the deadly suicide attack on the Peshawar Imambargah which resulted in the martyrdom of 57 worshippers and injuries to nearly 200, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

The city of Peshawar arose shocked in a daze a day after the carnage at the Kucha Risaldar Imambargah during the Friday prayers.

Preliminary investigation suggested that a total of three suicide bombers had carried out the attack. The three arrived at the Imambargah in a rickshaw from the Kohati area.

The terrorists stopped their rickshaw at a distance from the Kucha Risaldar and were reached the Imambargah on foot.

While the Peshawar police originally stated that two suicide bombers were involved in the attack but now the investigation had revealed that the number of attackers was three.

Anyhow, the Peshawar Police have now started searching for the rickshaw driver.

The Namaz-i-Janaza of 18 of the martyrs was offered on Friday night.  The funeral prayers of the two martyred policemen were also offered on Friday night which was attended by KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and his ministers along with IGP Muazzam Jah Insari and senior police officers.

Of the 196 injured, 45, some of them critical, were now still under treatment at the Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital. An LRH spokesman informed the media that the wounded were being provided the best medical facilities in different wards of the hospital.

He maintained that the injured were given emergency treatment despite rush in the hospital which was commendable.

IS-K Claimed Responsibility For the Attack

Meanwhile, the Islamic State group claimed the suicide bombing. “Today Friday, an Islamic State fighter succeeded in assaulting a Shiite mosque in Peshawar,” the transnational jihadist group said on its Amaq propaganda site.

Who is the Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K)

The Islamic State – Khorasan Province is an affiliate of the Islamic State active in South Asia and Central Asia. Some media sources also use the terms ISK, ISISK, IS–KP, Daesh–Khorasan, or Daesh–K in referring to the group.

ISKP has been active in Afghanistan and its area of operations includes Pakistan, and Tajikistan where they claimed attacks, as well as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Bangladesh, and China where individuals have pledged allegiance to it. The ISKP and Taliban consider each other enemies.

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