On Monday, a mosque blast in Peshawar’s Police Lines neighborhood left at least 147 injured and 32 dead, according to officials.
The number of casualties was confirmed by Mohammad Asim, a spokeswoman for Lady Reading Hospital (LRH). A number of the injured people, he continued, were in critical condition.
A rescue effort was going on inside the mosque, according to Peshawar Commissioner Riaz Mehsood, as many persons were buried beneath the rubble.
“An emergency has been imposed at hospitals across the city and injured persons are being provided the best medical facilities,” the senior official said.
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Muhammad Ijaz Khan, a Peshawar Capital City Police Officer (CCPO), told the media that the mosque’s roof had collapsed following the explosion.
“A number of jawans are still stuck under the rubble and rescuers are trying to pull them out.”
He claimed the mosque’s main hall, which could accommodate 250 to 300 people, had collapsed but the rest of the structure was still standing.
When asked about the nature of the explosion, the official responded as follows, “The smell of explosives has been detected but it is too early to say anything substantial.”
Khan estimated that there were 300 to 400 police officers in the neighborhood when the blast occurred. “It is apparent that a security lapse occurred,” the CCPO told the media.
He also said that the injured people and bodies had been transported to the LRH.
KP Governor Haji Ghulam Ali, who was standing next to Khan, denounced the explosion and pleaded with Peshawar residents to give blood for the injured, stating that doing so would be a “great favor for the police.”
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Mahmood Khan, a former chief minister of KP, also urged PTI members in Peshawar and surrounding regions to travel to LRH to give blood to the sufferers.
Appeal
PTI workers in Peshawar and adjoining areas are requested to reach LRH Peshawar for blood donations.— Mahmood Khan (@IMMahmoodKhan) January 30, 2023
PM Shehbaz Sharif left for Peshawar
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, according to unrelated reports, have left for Peshawar.
“The premier will be briefed on all aspects of the blast,” he said on Twitter, adding that PM Shehbaz would also visit the injured.
وزیراعظم محمد شہباز شریف کے ہمراہ پشاور کے لئے روانہ، وزیراعظم کو پشاور پولیس لائنز مسجد میں ہونے والے دھماکے کے حوالے سے تمام تر پہلؤوں پر بریفنگ دی جائے گی۔ وزیراعظم دھماکے میں زخمی ہونے والے افراد کی عیادت بھی کرینگے۔#Peshawarblast
— Rana SanaUllah Khan (@RanaSanaullahPK) January 30, 2023
The two are accompanied by Ministers of Defense Khawaja Asif and Information Marriyum Aurangzeb.
He stated that the explosion would be looked into from all possible aspects in another tweet. He promised that the KP administration would receive full support from the Centre.
نمازیوں پر دہشت گرد حملے کی جتنی زیادہ مذمت کی جائے اتنی کم ہے۔ نمازیوں پر دشت گرد حملہ ایک سفاکانہ اور بذدلانہ فعل ہے۔ پشاور پولیس لائنز مسجد واقعے کی تمام پہلوؤں سےتحقیقات کی جارہی ہیں۔ وفاقی ادارے خیبر پختونخواہ حکومت کی مکمل معاونت کررہے ہیں۔
— Rana SanaUllah Khan (@RanaSanaullahPK) January 30, 2023
Blast Details
The regional secretariat is right next door to the police headquarters in Peshawar, which is located in one of the most strictly policed sections in the city.
It is now unknown whether a bomb was intentionally placed in the mosque or if the attack was a suicide bombing. Nobody quickly took ownership of the attack.
The explosion occurred at roughly 1:40 pm, as Zuhr prayers were being conducted, according to the news agency correspondent who was on the scene of the incident. According to him, there were police, army, and bomb squad officers inside the mosque.
According to the reporter, a section of the building fell, and many individuals, particularly those who were in the front row during the prayers, were thought to be under it.
People were pictured crowding around the mosque’s crumbled wall in television broadcasts.
Roads leading to the Red Zone, which is where the Governor’s House, the Chief Minister Secretariat, Corps Headquarters, and significant defence sites are located, were shut down in the meanwhile.
Blast Eyewitness
In the mosque’s grounds, a witness claimed, he was performing wudhu when a tremendous explosion hurled him onto the street. “My ears were blocked, and I was knocked unconscious.”
Another witness claimed that due to the blast’s severity, the windows of the structure next to the mosque were broken.
Policeman Shahid Ali, who survived, reported that the explosion happened just as the imam was beginning to lead prayers.
“I saw black smoke rising to the sky. I ran out to save my life,” the 47-year-old told AFP.
“The screams of the people are still echoing in my mind,” he added. “People were screaming for help.”
The most recent significant incidence of this kind occurred in Peshawar last year when a suicide bomber detonated himself inside a Shia Mosque in the Kocha Risaldar neighborhood, leaving 63 people dead.
To read our blog on “In Quetta bomb blast, at least three killed & dozens got injured,” click here.
