Peshawar: A powerful bomb exploded inside a mosque in Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar on Friday, killing 56 worshippers and wounding dozens more, many of them critically, police said.
Local police official Waheed Khan said the explosion occurred as worshippers had collected in the Kucha Risaldar mosque in Peshawar's old city for Friday prayers. Ambulances rushed through congested narrow streets carrying the wounded to Lady Reading Hospital, where doctors worked feverishly.
Peshawar police Chief Muhammed Ejaz Khan said the violence started when two armed attackers opened fire on police outside the mosque. One attacker and one policeman were killed in the gunfight, and another police official was wounded. The remaining attacker then inside the mosque and detonated a bomb.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, but both the Daesh group and a violent Pakistani Taliban organisation have carried out similar attacks in the region, located near the border with neighbouring Afghanistan.
Shayan Haider, a witness, had been preparing to enter the mosque when a powerful explosion threw him to the street.
"I opened my eyes and there was dust and bodies everywhere," he said.
At the Lady Reading Hospital Emergency department, there was chaos as doctors struggled to move the many wounded into operating theaters. Hundreds of relatives gathered outside the emergency department, many of them wailing and beating their chests, pleading for information about their loved ones.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Imran Khan's office said he "strongly condemned" the attack.
Police officers shot
Peshawar police chief Muhammad Ijaz Khan told AFP the death toll could be higher than 30 and that two attackers were involved.
He said two police officers were shot at the entrance of the mosque. "One policeman died on the spot while the other was critically injured," he said.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Imran Khan's office said he "strongly condemned" the attack.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the apparent suicide bombing.
26 dead victims identified
The identity of 26 dead victims of the blast in a mosque at Kocha Risaldar was identified on Friday afternoon. According to lady reading hospital officials, the martyred worshipers so far identified included prayer leader Irshad Khalili son of Ghulam Abbas, Musarat Khan, Asif son of Iqbal Junior Clerk Police Department, Akhtar Hussain son of Yaqoob of Counter Terrorism Department, Police Constable Jamil, Ilyas Hussain son of Yusuf Ali, Syed Akbar son of Manzoor Hussain Shah, Hussain son of Muhammad Qasim, Syed Musarat Hussain, Fahim Abbas, Aqeeq Bangash, Muhammad Ali son of Faqir Hussain, Anas Aghaz son of Mir Agha, Abdul Ali son Ghulam Ali, Riaz Ali Syed son of Mohib Ali, Baz Gul son of Hassan Gul, Raza Ali, Hasanain, Fateh Ali, Mujahid Ali, Mazhar Ali Kiyani, Ali Agha, Arif Hussain, Musarat Raza, Altaf Hussain.
'Avoid unnecessary stay in hospital wards'
Muhammad Asim Khan, a spokesman for Peshawar's Lady Reading Hospital said "we have declared an emergency at the hospitals and more injured are being brought".
He appealed to the people and relatives of the victims to avoid an unnecessary stay in wards to ensure speedy and quick treatment to their loved ones.
He said 30 bodies including some children and senior citizens were brought to the hospital and 50 others injured. Asim said that the conditions of 15 patients were critical. The casualty figure is expected to climb as these critical patients sustained severe head and chest wounds.
Peshawar - just 50 kilometres from the porous border with Afghanistan - was a frequent target of militants in the early 2010s but security has greatly improved in recent years.
In recent months Pakistan has experienced a broad increase of violence. Dozens of military personnel have been killed in scores of attacks on army outposts along the border with Afghanistan. Much has been claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, which analysts say have been emboldened by the Afghan Taliban's return to power last August.
Pakistan has urged Afghanistan's new rulers to handover Pakistani Taliban insurgents who have been staging their attacks from Afghanistan. Afghanistan's Taliban say their territory will not be used to stage attacks against anyone, but until now they have not handed over any Pakistani insurgents.
