The blast came minutes before prayers began … At least 56 people were killed and 194 injured in a bombing of a Shiite mosque in Peshawar, northwestern Pakistan, during Friday prayers. “I can confirm that at least 30 people have been killed and 56 others injured,” said Muhammad Asim Khan, a spokesman for Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar.
The Shiite mosque is located on a narrow street in the Kocha Risaldar district, near the historic Qissa Khwani Bazaar. The explosion occurred a few minutes before the start of the prayer. “I was right in front of the mosque when I saw a man shoot two policemen before entering the mosque. “A few seconds later, I heard a big bang,” said witness Zahid Khan.
Return of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, Pakistani Taliban
Peshawar, located about 50 kilometers from the border with Afghanistan, was devastated by almost daily attacks in the first half of 2010, but security there has improved significantly in recent years.
Pakistan has been facing the return for several weeks of the Pakistani Taliban’s Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP), prompted by the Taliban’s rise to power in Afghanistan in August. The TTP, a movement different from that of Afghanistan’s new leaders but with common roots, has claimed responsibility for several attacks since the beginning of the year, including one against a police checkpoint in Islamabad, during which a police officer was killed and two wounded.