Pakistan mosque bomber was disguised as a policeman, official says | CNN
Islamabad, Pakistan
CNN
—
The suicide bomber who focused a mosque inside a police compound in Peshawar, killing greater than 80 individuals, was a member of the Pakistani Taliban disguised as a policeman, a senior official mentioned Thursday.
CCTV footage reveals the suspected bomber arriving at a police checkpoint on a scooter Monday, asking a constable the path to the mosque, and being let by means of since he was in uniform, mentioned Moazzam Jah Ansari, police chief of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
“This was a suicide bomber and now we have traced his motion. He was in a police uniform,” Ansari mentioned.
“We’re closing in on the community. Each lifetime of our martyrs will likely be avenged,” he added.
Officers had beforehand put the dying toll at greater than 100, however a number of the our bodies have been counted twice, Ansari mentioned. The blast additionally injured 217.
The event comes sooner or later after police in Peshawar arrested a number of suspects.
Police consider 12 kilograms (26.5 kilos) of explosives have been utilized by the bomber.
Video footage confirmed the destroyed partitions of the mosque, its glass home windows and paneling destroyed by the highly effective explosion.
Emergency staff looked for survivors, however authorities mentioned most of these discovered underneath the rubble have been already lifeless.
The blast Monday highlights the deteriorating safety scenario in Peshawar, capital of the restive Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan, and the location of frequent assaults by the Pakistani Taliban, generally known as Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP).
The TTP has despatched out conflicting messages about whether or not it was behind the assault.
TTP officers Sarbakaf Mohmand and Omar Mukaram Khurasani beforehand mentioned the blast was “revenge” for the dying of TTP militant Khalid Khorasani final yr.
However the TTP’s important spokesperson, Muhammad Khorasani, later denied the group was concerned.
The assault comes throughout a rocky interval for Pakistan, which can be scuffling with a price of residing disaster and a faltering financial system made worse by devastating floods final yr.
