Suicide bomber kills 25 at mosque in northwest Pak
At least 25 people were killed and 29 others injured when a suicide bomber shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ blew himself up inside a mosque packed with worshippers for Friday prayers in Mohmand Agency in Pakistan’s restive northwest tribal region. The attacker blew himself when the prayers were in progress at the mosque in the Anbar tehsil of the agency bordering Afghanistan.
ISLAMABAD: At least 25 people were killed and another 50 injured when a suicide bomber targeted a mosque in the Mohmand tribal region of northwest Pakistan during Friday prayers.
The bomber entered the crowded mosque and shouted “Allahu Akbar” before detonating explosives attached to his body. Officials said they feared the death toll could rise as some of the injured, including children, were in a serious condition. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack at Payee Khan, a village in Mohmand Agency that is part of the lawless Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) bordering Afghanistan.
Confirming the incident, the assistant political agent of the semi-autonomous region told the media that the mosque was in Anbar tehsil. “It was a suicide blast,” the official quoted a witness as saying. The attack occurred in an area believed to be controlled by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Naveed Akbar, the deputy administrator of Mohmand Agency, said some deaths were apparently caused when part of the mosque caved in from the force of the blast. “A portion of the mosque and verandah collapsed in the blast and fell on worshippers. We are still retrieving bodies and the injured from the rubble of the mosque,” he said. Tribal elder Haji Subhanullah Mohmand said the attack may have been carried out by militants seeking revenge after tribesmen raised a volunteer force and killed one insurgent .
“It seems to have enraged the militants and they got their revenge by carrying out a suicide attack in a mosque today,” Mohmand said.