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[1/8] Rescue workers look for survivors nether a collapsed roof, aft a termination blast successful a mosque successful Peshawar, Pakistan January 30, 2023. REUTERS/Fayaz Aziz
- Blast took spot successful a mosque during supplication time
- Most of the casualties were constabulary officers
- No radical has claimed work for the blast truthful far
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Jan 30 (Reuters) - A termination bombing astatine a crowded mosque successful Pakistan's Peshawar killed astatine slightest 32 radical connected Monday, the latest onslaught targeting constabulary successful this northwestern metropolis wherever Islamist militants stay active.
Hospital officials said astatine slightest 147 radical were wounded, with galore of them successful captious condition.
Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif called the blast a termination attack. There were astatine slightest 260 radical successful the mosque, constabulary authoritative Sikandar Khan added.
No 1 has claimed work for the bombing, which ripped done the mosque during noon prayers, causing a partition to illness connected apical of worshippers. The gathering is located wrong a highly fortified compound that includes the office of the provincial constabulary unit and a counter-terrorism department.
"We're getting that the violent was lasting successful the archetypal row," Defense Minister Khawaja Asif told Geo TV.
Footage from authorities broadcaster PTV showed constabulary and residents scrambling to region debris from the blast tract and carrying wounded radical connected their shoulders.
The onslaught was the city's worst since March past year, erstwhile a termination bombing astatine a Shi'ite Muslim mosque during Friday prayers killed astatine slightest 58 radical and injured astir 200. Islamic State militants claimed work for that bombing.
Peshwar, which sits astatine the borderline of Pakistan's tribal districts bordering Afghanistan, is often targeted by militant groups, including the Pakistani Taliban.
The group, known arsenic Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is an umbrella of Sunni and sectarian Islamist groups that privation to overthrow the authorities and regenerate it with their ain marque of Islamic governance.
The TTP has stepped up attacks since it ended a alleged bid woody past twelvemonth with the Pakistani government, which was facilitated by Afghan Taliban.
TTP has staged predominant attacks targeting constabulary successful the past fewer months. In December, Islamist militants seized a counter-terrorism centre successful the northwestern and took hostages to negociate with authorities authorities.
Reporting by Jibran Ahmad successful Peshawar, penning by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; editing by Miral Fahmy, Simon Cameron-Moore and Bernadette Baum
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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