The attack happened during afternoon prayers yesterday in the provincial capital Peshawar, close to areas along the Afghan border where militancy has been steadily rising.
THE DEATH TOLL from a mosque blast at a police headquarters in northwestern Pakistan has risen to more than 80 people, with a further 150 wounded.
Muhammad Asim Khan, a spokesman for the main hospital in Peshawar, told AFP the toll had risen to 89 as more bodies arrived from the scene. Around 150 more were wounded, officials said. At least 20 of the slain police officers were later buried after a prayer ceremony, with coffins lined up in rows and draped in the Pakistani flag.“Terrorists want to create fear by targeting those who perform the duty of defending Pakistan,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a statement.The security situation in Pakistan –- once plagued by bombings until a major military crackdown almost a decade ago largely restored order –- has deteriorated since the return of the Afghan Taliban in Kabul.
In a statement, the Pakistani Taliban — separate from the Afghan Taliban but with a similar Islamist ideology — denied it was responsible for the latest blast. Provinces around the country announced they were on high alert after the blast, with checkpoints ramped up and extra security forces deployed, while in the capital Islamabad snipers were posted on buildings and at city entrance points.
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