According to Pakistani police and government officials, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowded mosque in the city of Peshawar, not far from Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, killing at least 32 people and wounding 147.
A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device so powerful that the roof of the mosque collapsed, when a large number of people, including many military and police officers, had gathered for the noon prayer.
Up to 500 people could have been inside the mosque at the time of the attack.
Pakistani authorities are currently conducting a rescue operation at the site, so the figure of fatalities may grow.
“Medical emergency” has been declared in the city with calls on locals to donate blood for the injured.
It is not yet known, how the suicide bomber was able to penetrate a heavily protected area with a massive police presence. According to Capital City Police, a “security lapse occurred.”
According to Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, police officers were the prime target of the terrorist attack.
Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan (the Pakistani Taliban), a group outlawed in Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack.
The country’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the terror attack, saying, “these terrorists are trying to instill fear by targeting those who perform the duty of defending Pakistan.”