Peshawar blast was a targeted revenge attack, says top cop

A suicide blast at Peshawar mosque has rattled the entire nation with death toll standing at 100. A police chief has termed the blast as a “targeted revenge attack”. Between 300 and 400 policemen had gathered for afternoon prayers at the compound’s mosque on Monday in the provincial capital Peshawar when an entire wall and most of the roof were blown out, showering rubble on officers. “We are on the frontline taking action against militants and that is why we were targeted. The purpose was to demoralise us as a force,” city police chief Muhammad Ijaz Khan said. The rescue operation was finally ended on Tuesday evening aafter pulling the survivors and corpses out of the wreck of the mosque while rushing who could be saved to the hospitals. Low-level militancy, often targeting security checkpoints, has been steadily rising in the areas near Peshawar that border Afghanistan since the Taliban seized control of Kabul in August 2021. Pakistan Tehrike-eTaliban has claimed the responsibility of the attack. The head of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province police force, Moazzam Jah Ansari, while addressing to the media said that a suicide bomber had entered the mosque as a guest, carrying 10-12 kilogrammes (about 22-26 pounds) of “explosive material in bits and pieces”. He added that a militant group that was on-and-off affiliated with the Pakistani Taliban could be behind the attack.