A suicide bomber struck inside a Shia Muslim mosque in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar during Friday prayers, killing at least 56 worshippers and wounding 194 people, hospital officials said.
Highlights
- A suicide bomber strikes inside a Shia Muslim mosque in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar during Friday prayers, killing at least 56 worshippers and wounding 194 people.
- No militant group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
- Both the Islamic State group and the Pakistani Taliban — a militant group separate from the Taliban in Afghanistan — have carried out similar attacks in the past in the area.
- The prayer leader, Allama Irshad Hussein Khalil, a prominent up-and-coming young Shiite leader, was among the dead.
- There are fears the death toll could still rise further, he said.
- The attack occurred as worshippers gathered in the Kucha Risaldar Mosque for Friday prayers.