Peshawar: An explosion inside a mosque killed at least 28 people and wounded 150 more in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar on Monday, a government official said, and many of the casualties were police officers who had gathered for noon prayers.
The mosque was located inside a compound that includes the headquarters of the provincial police force and a counter-terrorism department, Peshawar’s police chief Ijaz Khan said.
The possibility of a suicide bombing could not be ruled out, he said, adding that traces of explosives were found inside the mosque.
The building is located in a highly fortified area of the city. There were at least 260 people inside, a police official Sikandar Khan said.
“A portion of the building had collapsed and several people are believed to be under it,” he added. – Reuters
(Reporting by Jibran Ahmed in Peshawar, writing by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; editing by Sudipto, Miral Fahmy and Simon Cameron-Moore)
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