Pakistan: More than 50 dead in mosque attack

Status: 04.03.2022 10:50 p.m

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A bomb attack on a mosque in Pakistan killed more than 50 people and injured around 200. Apparently, two armed suicide bombers fought their way into the mosque, where they detonated bombs.

At least 50 people have been killed in a bomb attack at a mosque in north-west Pakistan. Another 200 injured were taken to a hospital in the northwestern city of Peshawar, a spokesman for the clinic said. According to a local police chief, two armed suicide bombers fought their way into the mosque, where they detonated their bombs. The terrorist militia “Islamic State” claimed responsibility for the crime through its propaganda mouthpiece Amaq.

Shiite Mosque in Sunni Quarter

Local TV channels showed footage from a surveillance camera showing a young man shooting at a police officer before storming into the mosque. According to the police, the detonation happened during Friday prayers in a Shiite place of worship in a predominantly Sunni district of the provincial capital. However, it is unclear whether the act has a religious background.

“Smoke and screams could be heard everywhere,” one survivor told Pakistani TV station Dunya. “Then I saw several bodies lying on top of each other and a river of blood on the ground.” The noise of the explosion was “deafening,” said another eyewitness, who was driving his motorcycle in front of the mosque, to the local broadcaster “Geo”. “Before I knew what was happening, I heard gunshots and explosions.”

IS regularly carries out attacks in the region

It is still unclear who is responsible for the attack. However, the terrorist militia “Islamic State” (IS), which is active in the region, regularly carries out brutal attacks on Shiite Muslims, whom it regards as apostates.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan strongly condemned the attack, his office said. He promised the victims quick help. President Arif Alvi also condemned the attack and expressed his condolences to the families of the victims.

Attacks are increasing again

Since the militant Islamist Taliban took power in neighboring Afghanistan, attacks in the border region have recently increased. In particular, the IS and the Pakistani Taliban claim attacks for themselves. The border province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has long been considered a troubled region of Pakistan, but it has remained quiet for a long time after a military offensive against Islamist terrorist groups in 2014.

Reminder of past attacks

In autumn 2020, many people were killed and more than 100 injured in a similar attack in a Koran school in Peshawar. At that time, the IS was suspected. Residents in Peshawar recall the brutal attack by Pakistani Taliban, who killed more than 150 people, mostly children, in a school in Peshawar in 2014.