A suspected suicide bomb ripped through a mosque in Preshaw, Pakistan, on Monday, killing upward of 100 as the death toll continues to rise and searchers look for people covered by falling walls and a collapsed roof.
The attack occurred in the area’s heavily fortified police district, and at least one bomb was detonated as hundreds of people, including a large number of Pakistani law enforcement officers, gathered for afternoon prayer, according to the BBC.
Two Pakistan Taliban (TTP) officials claimed credit for the bombing on Monday, saying the attack was a revenge killing for the death of former TTP affiliate Khalid Khorasani, CNN reported.
TTP has since walked back the statement and claimed the message was from a splinter group. TTP said it does not condone attacks on religious institutions, the BBC reported.
That sentiment is shared by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
“The brutal killing of Muslims prostrating before Allah is against the teachings of the Quran,” he said.
“Terrorists want to create fear by targeting those who perform the duty of defending Pakistan,” Sharif said following the blast, CNN reported.
According to Zafar Khan, a local law enforcement officer, the explosion destroyed a wall and a portion of the mosque’s roof, both of which fell on people inside. Aside from killing at least 100 people, an estimated 160 others were injured by the explosion, according to CNN. The space inside the mosque was crowded, and officials said the bomber was in the front row during prayers.
The Dallas Express reached out to the Consulate General of Pakistan in Houston, the Middle East Institute, and the Embassy of Israel to the U.S. for comment on the blast, but at the time of press, no comments had been received.
The Dallas Express also reached out to the Center for International Strategic Studies Pakistan, the Center for Research and Security Studies, and a second time to the consulate’s office in Houston, but no comments were returned by the time of press.
In January, Islamic State (IS) claimed it had killed 20 individuals and injured 30 others after attacking a police station in Kabul.
The official death toll, according to Afghan authorities, has yet to be released.
Since August 2021, when the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan, a local affiliate of IS located in the province of Khorasan has claimed responsibility for various attacks.
The terrorist group was reportedly behind two high-profile events targeting foreigners in Kabul in December, The Dallas Express reported.
One of those events involved a shooting at Pakistan’s embassy, which Islamabad said was an attempt to kill its ambassador, who got away unharmed, according to Reuters. Nonetheless, a guard was injured, and the structure was damaged, as reported by The Dallas Express.
