PESHAWAR: At least 57 worshippers were killed and more than 200 others were wounded when a suicide bomber blew him-self up inside a Shia mosque located in Koch Risaldar area, here on Friday.
An eyewitness, who identified a person dressed in black as the suicide bomber, said that he entered the mosque, shot and killed the security guard first and then fired five to six bullets.
“After that, he quickly entered the [mosque’s] main hall and blew himself up in front of the pulpit. Following this, there were bodies and injured people lying everywhere,” the eyewitness told media.
“The hall was filled with people; they were on the bottom and top floors; the incident took place at 12:55pm,” he added.
He said people took the injured worshipers to the hospital on motorcycles as rescue workers faced hindrances while arriving at the site due to congested alleys.
The man claimed that recently a hand grenade attack targeted a house in the area, after which residents had urged the authorities to beef up security. “But still, it did not happen [...] the security has been reduced.”
Soon after the blast, the workers of the rescue team arrived at the site of the blast and shifted injured people to Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) Peshawar, while residents and people of the neighbourhood also helped in transporting the injured on their motorcycles and cars.
The blast was so powerful that it was heard in nearby localities and smashed the window panes of the houses.
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Soon after the blast, police and personnel of law enforcement agencies arrived at the blast site.
At the LRH emergency department, there was chaos as doctors struggled to move the many wounded into operating theatres. The hospital was put on red alert and more medical personnel were called to LRH.
A medical emergency was also notified in Peshawar district with all doctors and support staff at government health facilities and medical teaching institutions directed to remain on alert.
According to locals, the area housed a number of markets and was usually packed around the time of Friday prayers.
Muhammand Asim, a spokesperson of the Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar confirmed that the death toll in the mosque blast rose to 56. He told the media that 194 injured persons have been brought to LRH Peshawar.
He added that some wounded persons are in critical condition. The seriously injured persons in the bomb explosion were given timely medical treatment at the hospital.
“The injured persons were provided with medicines, medical staff, blood on an emergency basis at the hospital,” said Asim.
Officials, who termed the incident a suicide attack, initially said that two attackers were involved.
However, CCTV footage released later in the day showed a lone attacker clad in a black shalwar kameez reaching the mosque in the city’s Qissa Khwani Bazaar on foot and brandishing a pistol.
He opened fired on police personnel deployed outside the main entrance for security before running inside. The attacker also opened fire on a man who tried to stop him and managed to enter the mosque, where worshippers had gathered for Friday prayers, after which an explosion took place.
Moazzam Jah Ansari, Inspector General of police Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa said that it was a suicide attack and at least 150 ball bearings were used in the suicide vest. He added that the attackers were on foot when they attacked the police guards and the imambargah.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022