27 killed, 147 injured in suicide blast at mosque in high-security zone in Pakistan’s Peshawar

Pakistani police have raised the death toll from a suicide bombing at a mosque in the northwestern city of Peshawar to 27 killed

A suicide bomber struck Monday inside a mosque in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, killing at least 27 people and wounding as many as 147 worshippers, officials said.

Most of the casualties were policemen and police officers as the targeted mosque is located within a sprawling compound, which that also serves as the city’s police headquarters.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, said Saddique Khan, a senior police official in Peshawar, but the Pakistani Taliban have been blamed in similar suicide attacks in the past. As the number of casualties rose, Peshawar police chief Ijaz Khan gave the latest tolls.

The bomber detonated his suicide vest as some 200 worshipers were praying inside or heading to the mosque for prayers. The police compound is located in a high-security zone in Peshawar, along with several government buildings, and it was unclear how the bomber managed to penetrate so deep inside the zone unnoticed.

The impact of the explosion collapsed the roof of the mosque, which caved in and injured many, according to Zafar Khan, a local police officer.

A survivor, 38-year-old police officer Meena Gul, said he was inside the mosque when the bomb went off. He said he doesn’t know how he survived unhurt. He could hear cries and screams after the bomb exploded, Gul said.

Rescuers scrambled trying to remove mounds of debris from the mosque grounds and get to worshippers still trapped under the rubble, police said. At a nearby hospital, many of the wounded were listed in critical condition as the casualty toll rose.