Islamic State claims attack that killed dozens at Pakistani mosque

3 yıl önce

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — The Islamic State in a statement posted to the group’s media outlet claimed responsibility for an attack on a Shiite Muslim mosque in Peshawar that killed at least 56 people Friday in the deadliest assault in the northwestern Pakistani city in more than seven years.

Get the full experience.Choose your plan

A blast struck the mosque during Friday prayers, and gunmen stormed inside, opening fire on worshipers packed into the main hall, officials said. In addition to the 56 dead, more than 194 people were wounded, according to Muhammad Asim, a spokesman for a hospital in the city.

Within hours of the assault, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted, “we now have all info regarding origins of where the terrorists came from & are going after them with full force,” but did not specify which group was behind the attack.

Pakistani security forces have been put on high alert, Pakistani Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told The Washington Post. “We will thwart the designs of those who want to create unrest and instability in Pakistan. Our forces have defeated the terrorists before and they will do it again.”

Ahmed also told a local news outlet the blast was carried out by a suicide bomber. “We had no prior threat alert or any information [warning] about this attack,” he said.

Pakistani police tweeted that at least two assailants first fired on police officers guarding the mosque in central Peshawar, killing on officer and critically wounding a second.

Video released by police showed victims being loaded into ambulances as additional security personnel arrived at the scene.

Jahanzeb Sarhadi, who lives near the mosque, said he heard gunshots, which were “followed by a loud explosion” that knocked him backward. “The blast shook the whole area,” he told The Washington Post. When Sarhadi reached the mosque, the building was engulfed in white smoke, he said.

“It was a horrible scene. There were many injured people lying on the floor crying for help. I saw many dead bodies, scattered body parts, and the floor was covered with blood,” Sarhadi said.

Militant attacks have increased in Pakistan in border regions with Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover of Kabul last year. Some leaders of extremist groups long active in Pakistan have said the Taliban’s rise next door has emboldened their forces.

In December 2014, an attack carried out by the Pakistani Taliban on a military school in Peshawar killed over 140 people, mostly children. The killings sparked public outrage and an extensive months long military operation along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan.

Shiite places of worship have repeatedly come under attack by the Islamic State in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan last year, Islamic State group attacks increased in provinces along Pakistan’s border and analysts reported increased recruitment by the group.

Hussain reported from Islamabad, Pakistan.