Peshawar (Staff Report/Agencies): The death toll from the attack on a mosque in Peshawar’s Police Lines area has risen to 100 on Tuesday.
The Lady Reading Hospital spokesperson said that all the deceased persons have been identified, while 53 of those injured were under treatment at the facility.
According to security officials, the explosion occurred in the central hall of the mosque at 1 PM, causing the roof to come crashing down upon those who were offering Zuhr prayers at the time.
The security officials said the suicide attacker was present in the front row during the prayer when he exploded himself.
A police report issued after the attack, said the explosion occurred inside the main hall of a mosque — which has a capacity of 300 to 350 men — located in the Police Lines area.
The locality comprises headquarters of the Capital City Police, Frontier Reserve Police, Elite Police Force, Counter Terrorism Department, Tele Communication Branch, RRF and SCU etc, it stated.
The statement said that the blast caused the roof of the mosque to collapse and a rescue operation was underway by the Pakistan Army and Rescue 1122, for retrieval of casualties.
“A severed head has been recovered from inside the debris. The use of explosives in the incident has been confirmed, while other factors are being evaluated to confirm the nature of the blast,” it said.
The report added that suicide bombing could not be “ruled out” and investigation by various teams was under way.
The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack. It later distanced itself from it.
