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 exhibits 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’ve got traced his motion. He was in a police uniform,” Ansari mentioned.
“We’re closing in on the community. Each lifetime of our martyrs might be avenged,” he added.
Officers had beforehand put the loss of life toll at greater than 100, however among the our bodies had 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 had 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 below the rubble had been already lifeless.
The blast Monday highlights the deteriorating safety state of affairs in Peshawar, capital of the restive Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan, and the positioning of frequent assaults by the Pakistani Taliban, referred to 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 loss of life of TTP militant Khalid Khorasani final 12 months.
However the TTP’s major spokesperson, Muhammad Khorasani, later denied the group was concerned.
The assault comes throughout a rocky interval for Pakistan, which can also be scuffling with a price of residing disaster and a faltering economic system made worse by devastating floods final 12 months.
