Karachi: At least five worshippers were killed and several others wounded after a powerful suicide bomb exploded at a mosque in northwestern Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province during Friday prayers.
The blast took place at a mosque within a pro-Taliban seminary, or religious school, in Akkora Khattak district, a senior police official said.
The timing of the bombing is significant, just ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramzan, which will start on Saturday or Sunday subject to the sighting of the Moon.
The blast led to panic and those injured were shifted to nearby hospitals.
#BREAKING Suicide bombing inside a mosque in Nowshera district of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province #Pakistan several people killed and wounded, local police said pic.twitter.com/kBDwocP8St
— The South Asia Times (@thesouthasiatim) February 28, 2025
The sprawling campus where the mosque was located houses around 4,000 students who are provided free boarding, lodging and education.
It is popularly known as the ‘university of Jihad’ for its ideology and number of Taliban fighters it has produced.
Mullah Omar, the late founder of Taliban who led an insurgency against the US and NATO troops in Afghanistan, was among leaders to have graduated from the school.
The Taliban, which has been in power in Afghanistan since August 2021, condemned Friday’s suicide blast.
Though no group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet, Taliban put the blame on Islamic State group.
“We strongly condemn the attack… we know them as the enemies of the religion, we have tried our best to eliminate them successfully,” said Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani.
Since the Taliban’s return to power, militancy has gone up in Pakistan’s border regions with Afghanistan.
More than 1,600 people were killed in attacks last year, the most in a decade in Pakistan, according to Islamabad-based analysis group the Centre for Research and Security Studies.
