30 Killed As Bomb Explodes In Mosque During Friday Prayers In Pakistan

Peshawar: At least 30 worshippers were killed and more than 50 injured in a powerful bomb explosion inside a Shiite Muslim mosque in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar during the Friday prayers, the AP reported.

The injured were rushed to the Lady Reading Hospital.

According to Aljazeera, the violence started when two armed attackers opened fire on police outside Kucha Risaldar mosque in Peshawar’s old city area. An assailant and a policeman were killed in the gunfight, and another policeman was wounded. The remaining attacker then entered the mosque and detonated a bomb, the report said.

No groups have so far claimed responsibility for the blast. Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned the incident.

Notably, minority Shiite Muslims have come under repeated attacks in the majority Sunni Muslim Pakistan and the region, bordering Afghanistan, has witnessed similar attacks by the Islamic State group and a violent Pakistani Taliban organization in the past, the report added.