ISIS Claims Bombing of Pakistani Mosque, Killing More than 56:

A suicide bomber struck inside a Shia Muslim mosque in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar during Friday prayers, killing more than 50 Namazi and wounding 60 people, hospital officials said.


ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. Both the Islamic State group and the Pakistan Tehreek Taliban – a militant group separate from the Taliban in Afghanistan – have carried out similar attacks in the past in the area, located near the border with neighboring Afghanistan.

Peshawar Police Chief Muhammed Ejaz Khan said the violence started when two armed attackers opened fire on police outside the mosque in Peshawar’s old city. One attacker and one policeman were killed in the gunfight, and another police official was wounded. The remaining attacker then ran inside the mosque and detonated a bomb.

According to the spokesman at Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital, Asim Khan, many of the wounded were in critical condition. Scores of victims were peppered with shrapnel, several had limbs amputated and others were injured by flying debris.

Peshawar Police Chief Muhammed Ejaz Khan said the violence started when an armed attacker opened fire on police outside the mosque in Peshawar’s old city. One policeman was killed in the gunfight, and another police officer was wounded. The attacker then ran inside the mosque and detonated his suicide vest.

Local police official Waheed Khan said the explosion occurred as Namazi's had gathered in the Kucha Risaldar mosque for Friday prayers. The death toll will likely to rise as many of the wounded are in critical condition, he added.

Ambulances rushed through congested narrow streets carrying the wounded to Lady Reading Hospital, where doctors worked feverishly. At least 100-150 Namzis were inside the mosque at the time of the explosion, witnesses said.

Shayan Haider, a witness, had been preparing to enter the mosque when a powerful explosion threw him to the street.

“I opened my eyes and there was dust and bodies everywhere,” he said.

At the Lady Reading Hospital Emergency department, there was chaos as doctors struggled to move the many wounded into operating theaters. Hundreds of relatives gathered outside the emergency department, many of them wailing and beating their chests, pleading for information about their loved ones.

Outside the mosque, Shia Muslims pressed through the cordoned off streets. Kucha Risaldar Mosque is one of the oldest in the area, predating the creation of Pakistan in 1947 as a separate and safe homeland for the Muslims of the Subcontinent.