(LANKAPUVATH | COLOMBO) – At least 59 people have been killed by a suicide bombing that apparently targeted policemen praying in a mosque in Peshawar, Pakistan.
The mosque is within the tightly guarded police headquarters area.
“Terrorists want to create fear by targeting those who perform the duty of defending Pakistan,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said.
The Pakistani Taliban denied involvement after an initial claim by one of its commanders.
The group ended a ceasefire in November, and violence has been on the rise since.
In December it targeted a police station – like Peshawar, in the north-west of the country – leading to the deaths of 33 militants.
A hospital spokesman told the BBC the death toll stood at 59, while 157 people had been injured.
Between 300 and 400 police officers were in the area at the time, Peshawar police chief Muhammad Ijaz Khan told local media.
The mosque is in one of the most heavily controlled areas of the city, which includes police headquarters and intelligence and counter-terrorism bureaus.
Mr Sharif said those behind the attack had “nothing to do with Islam”. He added: “The entire nation is standing united against the menace of terrorism.”
The blast took place around 13:30 (08:30 GMT) during afternoon prayers in the north-western city, near the country’s border with Afghanistan.
A video circulating on social media and verified by the BBC shows that half of a wall caved in. The mosque was covered in bricks and debris as people clambered over the rubble to escape.
