Islamabad (Web Desk): President Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan have strongly condemned the suicide blast inside a mosque in Peshawar.
At least 56 peope were killed and more than 190 were injured in a suicide attack on a mosque in Qissa Khwani bazaar in Peshawar's Kocha Risaldar area on Friday.
In their separate messages, the president and the premier expressed grief and sorrow over loss of precious lives.
They also extended condolences to the families of the deceased.
In his message, President Dr Arif Alvi condemned the blast at Jamia Masjid Imamia at Qissa Khawani Bazaar in Peshawar and expressed deep sorrow over the loss of precious lives.
The president expressed sympathy to the families of the martyrs and prayed for the forgiveness of the martyrs and prayed for speedy recovery of the injured.
Prime Minister Imran Khan strongly condemned the attack and directed provision of immediate medical treatment to the injured, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement.
The prime minister ordered an inquiry into the incident, the statement added.
Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid also condemned the attack, saying he had directed the provincial chief secretary and inspector general of police to submit a report. He expressed grief over the lives lost in the incident.
KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan condemned the blast and sought a report from the KP inspector-general of police.
The chief minister instructed the rescue workers to speed up the rescue operation and ordered provincial cabinet members to monitor the operations.
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry also condemned the blast in Peshawar.
The minister said investigations were underway and details of the tragic incident will be shared soon.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif offered condolences to the families of those martyred in the attack.
In a statement the PML-N chief strongly condemned the incident saying those who attacked worshippers could be "neither Muslims nor humans".
He also expressed concern over the "serious security conditions" in the country.
In a post on Twitter, he wrote, "Words can't adequately condemn the sheer brutality. Terrorism continues to remain our foremost national challenge".
Former President Asif Ali Zardari also condemned the incident and said terrorists were the enemies of the country and the nation and must be eliminated. While praying for the speedy recovery of the injured, he reminded that there was still time to fully implement the National Action Plan.
The former president said that the attack would not have happened if "nurseries of terrorism had been destroyed".
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said that terrorists had "carried out an attack on humanity" by targeting innocent worshippers.
He demanded that the government immediately arrest terrorist elements and their facilitators.
The PPP chairperson said he was saddened by the non-implementation of the National Action Plan
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief and Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) president Maulana Fazlur Rehman expressed sadness over the loss of precious lives in the Peshawar blast and offered condolences to the families of the deceased.
"The incumbent government has failed to maintain law and order, the peace achieved with such hard work is going to be destroyed again by this incompetent government," Fazl said.
PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz also strongly condemned the incident, stating that the "return of the smell of explosives" in Pakistan's cities was worrying.
"The peace that was established by sacrificing precious lives has been affected by incompetence," she said referring to the current government. She prayed for the injured and the families of the martyrs.