https://apnews.com/article/religion-pakistan-peshawar-109011e6b4ae01ec3e759c549e9e8327
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — The Islamic State says a lone Afghan suicide bomber struck inside a Shiite Muslim mosque in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar during Friday prayers, killing at least 56 worshippers and wounding 194 people.
The Islamic State affiliate in the region known as Islamic State in Khorasan province and headquartered in Afghanistan claimed Friday’s devastating attack in a statement translated by the SITE Intelligence group.
The statement was posted on the group’s Amaq News Agency. The statement identified the attacker as Afghan, posted his picture and said “Islamic State fighters are constantly targeting Shi’ites living in Pakistan and Afghanistan despite the intense security measures adopted by the Taliban militia and the Pakistani police to secure Shi’a temples and centers.”…
Peshawar Police Chief Muhammed Ejaz Khan said the violence started when an armed attacker opened fire on police outside the mosque in Peshawar’s old city. One policeman was killed in the gunfight, and another police officer was wounded. The attacker then ran inside the mosque and detonated his suicide vest.
The suicide bomber had strapped a powerful explosive device to his body, packed with 5 kilograms (12 pounds) of explosives, said Moazzam Jah Ansari, the top police official for Khyber Pukhtunkhwa province where Peshawar is the capital.
…He fired at the police protecting the mosque before entering inside.
Within seconds, a powerful explosion occurred and the camera lens was obscured with dust and debris. Ansari said the crudely made device was packed with ball bearings, a deadly method of constructing a bomb to inflict the most carnage spraying a larger area with deadly projectiles. The ball bearings caused the high death toll, Ansari said.
Local police official Waheed Khan said the explosion occurred as worshippers had gathered in the Kucha Risaldar Mosque for Friday prayers. There are fears the death toll could still rise further, he added….
Retired army officer Sher Ali who had been inside the mosque at the time of the explosion was injured by flying shrapnel. He made a impassioned plea to the Pakistani government for better protection of the country’s minority Shiites.
“What is our sin? What have we done? Aren’t we citizens of this country?” he said from inside the emergency department, his white clothes splattered with blood.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attack, saying the perpetrators were intent on “sowing discord among Muslims.”…
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — The Islamic State says a lone Afghan suicide bomber struck inside a Shiite Muslim mosque in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar during Friday prayers, killing at least 56 worshippers and wounding 194 people.
The Islamic State affiliate in the region known as Islamic State in Khorasan province and headquartered in Afghanistan claimed Friday’s devastating attack in a statement translated by the SITE Intelligence group.
The statement was posted on the group’s Amaq News Agency. The statement identified the attacker as Afghan, posted his picture and said “Islamic State fighters are constantly targeting Shi’ites living in Pakistan and Afghanistan despite the intense security measures adopted by the Taliban militia and the Pakistani police to secure Shi’a temples and centers.”…
Peshawar Police Chief Muhammed Ejaz Khan said the violence started when an armed attacker opened fire on police outside the mosque in Peshawar’s old city. One policeman was killed in the gunfight, and another police officer was wounded. The attacker then ran inside the mosque and detonated his suicide vest.
The suicide bomber had strapped a powerful explosive device to his body, packed with 5 kilograms (12 pounds) of explosives, said Moazzam Jah Ansari, the top police official for Khyber Pukhtunkhwa province where Peshawar is the capital.
…He fired at the police protecting the mosque before entering inside.
Within seconds, a powerful explosion occurred and the camera lens was obscured with dust and debris. Ansari said the crudely made device was packed with ball bearings, a deadly method of constructing a bomb to inflict the most carnage spraying a larger area with deadly projectiles. The ball bearings caused the high death toll, Ansari said.
Local police official Waheed Khan said the explosion occurred as worshippers had gathered in the Kucha Risaldar Mosque for Friday prayers. There are fears the death toll could still rise further, he added….
Retired army officer Sher Ali who had been inside the mosque at the time of the explosion was injured by flying shrapnel. He made a impassioned plea to the Pakistani government for better protection of the country’s minority Shiites.
“What is our sin? What have we done? Aren’t we citizens of this country?” he said from inside the emergency department, his white clothes splattered with blood.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attack, saying the perpetrators were intent on “sowing discord among Muslims.”…
