The balance of the attack perpetrated on Monday, in a mosque inside the Pakistani police facilities, in Peshawar, amounted to 83 dead, hospital officials reported Tuesday.
The death toll rose with the discovery of new bodies overnight, spokesman for Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar, Muhammad Asim Khan, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
In another balance released by the Associated Press news agency, the death toll, mostly agents, reached 74.
“This morning the last part of the collapsed roof will be removed so that we can recover more bodies, but we are pessimistic about the chances of finding more survivors,” emergency services spokesman Bilal Ahmad Faizi told AFP.
The attack, carried out by a suicide bomber, was initially claimed by Sarbakaf Mohmand, commander of the Pakistani Taliban group, through a message posted on the social network Twitter.
However, hours later, the spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or by the acronym TTP, Mohammad Khurasani, denied the group’s responsibility and said that it was not the movement’s policy to attack mosques, seminaries and places religious.
The impact of the blast caused the roof of the mosque to collapse, injuring at least 150 people, according to Zafar Khan, a police officer.
Siddique Khan, a police officer, added that the leader of the Noor-ul-Amin mosque was among the dead.
One survivor, police officer Meena Gul, 38, said she was inside the mosque when the bomb went off, describing a scene of chaos and panic after the blast.
In a statement, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif condemned the attack and ordered authorities to ensure the best possible medical treatment for the victims, pledging “severe measures” against those responsible for the attack.
Peshawar has been the scene of frequent attacks by terrorist militias.
The TTP, active in Pakistan for more than 15 years, is a separate group from the Taliban that currently controls Afghanistan.
Source: TSF
