Suicide bomber attack in Pakistan: At least 89 dead

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During the night ten more bodies were recovered from the wreckage of the place of worship

The death toll from a suicide bomber attack on police headquarters in Peshawar has risen further to at least 89, authorities said, hinting that the toll could rise further.

“At least 89 people have died,” Ayaz Khan, a police spokesman in the northwestern Pakistani city, told the German Agency.

A total of 221 people were injured when the explosion took place in an Islamic mosque full of worshipers inside the police headquarters, in a heavily guarded area of ​​the city, some fifty kilometers from the border with Afghanistan.

At least 10 of the injured are in critical condition, according to Muhammad Asim Khan, a spokesman for Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital.

During the night, ten more bodies were recovered from the rubble of the place of worship, where the roof and wall collapsed due to the explosion.

The vast majority of victims “were police officers”, Mr Khan confirmed.

The attack, at the time of noon prayer, is one of the deadliest in recent years in Pakistan.

An investigation is underway to ascertain how the draconian security measures of the site, where agents of various intelligence agencies are based in the area, were breached.

The capital and the rest of the country, especially areas on the border with Afghanistan, were put on even higher alert.

Yesterday’s action was “an attack against Pakistan”, said Pakistani Prime Minister Shabaz Sharif.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the action at this stage.

Pakistan has been faced for months, especially since the Taliban recaptured power in Afghanistan in August 2021, with a rapidly deteriorating security situation.

After a few years of relative calm, the attacks are back-to-back again, mainly attributed to the Pakistani Taliban (TPM), the so-called Islamic State in Khorasan (ISIS), as well as Baloch separatist groups, a minority living in mainly in Balochistan province.

Peace talks between Islamabad and the KPT collapsed in November.

RES-EMP

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