Islamabad (Pakistan): The death toll has mounted to 87 in a suicide bombing that took place inside a mosque in Peshawar’s Police Lines, reported the news agency Reuters, quoting a hospital official.
The explosion took place in northwestern Peshawar city, which is one of the fotified areas as here are the offices of the police and counter-terrorism departments.
As per the police, a suicide bomber blew himself at the centre hall of the mosque at 1 pm on Monday while a hundreds lined up to say afternoon prayers.
As per media reports, the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility through Twitter post but later, its spokesperson Mohammad Khurasani denied it later.
The Washington Post reported that Khurasani said that it was not their policy to bomb mosques, seminaries and religious places. He said that TTP would rather punish those who targets these places.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif took to Twitter to say, “The sheer scale of the human tragedy is unimaginable. This is no less than an attack on Pakistan.” He visited the wounded at in Peshwar, promising to take “stern action” against the ones behind the bombing.
There are a string of millitant attacks in the country since November when the TTP called off the cease-fire with Pakistan where a majority of Muslims belong to Sunni community.
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