In northwestern Pakistan, an explosion at a mosque inside Peshawar police headquarters killed at least 83 people on Monday, January 30, 2023.
At least 83 people were killed, mostly police officers, in an alleged attack on Monday at a mosque inside the police headquarters in Peshawar, northwest Pakistan . The initial death toll was 83.
The whole country placed on high alert
The explosion occurred at prayer time. It blew off the roof and a wall of the mosque, noted an AFP reporter , who saw injured people walk out of the destroyed mosque and the bodies of apparently dead people being taken away in ambulances. The government has placed the whole country on high alert
According to Peshawar Police Chief Muhammad Ijaz Khan, 300 to 400 people are usually present inside this mosque at prayer time.
Dozens injured
A rescue operation was immediately launched to free the people trapped from the rubble, the roof and a wall of the building having collapsed under the blast of the explosion.
“So far, we have recovered 61 bodies and 60 injured are receiving medical treatment. Dozens of other injured people have been transported to other hospitals in the city ,” said Muhammad Asim Khan, spokesman for Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar (north-west) earlier today.
The police headquarters in Peshawar is one of the best policed areas in the city. It also houses the premises of various intelligence agencies.
According to the police, the explosion occurred in the second row of worshipers gathered for prayer. Bomb squads were on hand to examine the possibility that it was caused by a suicide bomber.
