A bomb apparently targeted a mosque in Pakistan’s north-western city of Parachinar, killing at least 22 people and injuring dozens on Friday in an attack, which was claimed by the Taliban.
When people gathered for Friday prayers near the women’s entrance of a Shia mosque in the central bazaar, the explosion in a remote area, bordering Afghanistan, happened. This was the latest in a series of attacks across Pakistan this year.
Local political agent, Ikramullah Khan, said that the death toll had reached 22, with 70 wounded.
Parachinar’s parliamentarian Sajid Hussain said that gunfire preceded the blast, which he described as a suicide attack. “The attack took place in a busy area and a women’s mosque appears to be the target,” he said.
The banned militant group Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) said that the blast was part of its operation Ghazi, named after a radical leader, killed by Pakistani security forces in 2007.
Authorities said a military rescue helicopter had been sent to the scene to help evacuate the injured.
Mumtaz Hussain, a doctor at the Agency Headquarters Hospital in the region, said that five bodies, including a woman and two children, and more than three dozen wounded had been brought to the hospital and an appeal for blood donors had been made.
“Patients are being brought to us in private cars and ambulances and we have received over three dozen patients so far,” Hussain told Reuters.
Nawaz Sharif condemned Friday’s attack and said that the government would keep up efforts to “eliminate the menace of terrorism.”
