Islamabad, Oct 23 (IANS) Five people were killed and 30 others injured Friday in a bomb attack at a mosque in Pakistan’s northwestern Peshawar city.
The blast took place when people were coming out after offering Friday prayers at the mosque in Pishta Khara area of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Five people were killed, while four of the injured were in a critical condition, Dawn reported.
Police said the bomb, which weighed 1.5 kg, was planted with a time device.
‘We had stepped up security outside mosques in sensitive areas but this one was not in that list,’ said senior superintendent of police Ijaz Ahmad.
Bomb disposal officials said the blast was caused by an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) concealed in utensils.
Information minister Iftikhar Hussain ‘condemned the blast’ and said ‘such incidents would keep occurring unless and until all terrorists are tracked down’.
‘We are in a state of war against the militants and this is their reaction to our successes,’ he added.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has become the flashpoint of the war on terror since 2001 because of its close proximity to the Afghan border.
Hundreds of people, including high-profile targets like Iftikhar Hussain’s son and several police officers, have lost their lives in bomb attacks by the militants. Taliban has claimed responsibility for most of the previous such attacks.
