Islamabad, Pakistan
Mahaz News
—
The suicide bomber who focused a mosque inside a police compound in Peshawar, killing greater than 80 folks, 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 course to the mosque, and being let by way of since he was in uniform, mentioned Moazzam Jah Ansari, police chief of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
“This was a suicide bomber and we have traced his movement. He was in a police uniform,” Ansari mentioned.
“We are closing in on the network. Every life of our martyrs will be avenged,” he added.
Officials had beforehand put the demise toll at greater than 100, however among the our bodies have been counted twice, Ansari mentioned. The blast additionally injured 217.
The improvement comes at some point 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 employees looked for survivors, however authorities mentioned most of these discovered beneath the rubble have been already useless.
The blast Monday highlights the deteriorating safety state of affairs in Peshawar, capital of the restive Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan, and the location of frequent assaults by the Pakistani Taliban, often called 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 demise of TTP militant Khalid Khorasani final yr.
But the TTP’s fundamental spokesperson, Muhammad Khorasani, later denied the group was concerned.
The assault comes throughout a rocky interval for Pakistan, which can also be combating a price of residing disaster and a faltering economic system made worse by devastating floods final yr.
Source web site: www.cnn.com
