Suicide bomber kills 20 at mosque in NW Pakistan – official

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (UPDATED) – A suicide bomber killed at least 20 people and wounded more than 30 others on September 16 as they attended Friday prayers at a mosque in a northwestern Pakistani tribal area, officials said.

 

The bombing took place in the village of Butmaina in the Mohmand tribal district bordering Afghanistan where the army has been fighting against Taliban militants.

 

“At least 20 people have been killed and more than 30 others wounded,” deputy chief of Mohmand tribal district administration Naveed Akbar told the Agence France-Presse (AFP), adding that the bomber came in as Friday prayers were in progress and blew himself up in the main hall. A curfew was later imposed in the area.

 

Another local government official confirmed the information.

 

Shireen Zada, a resident who had prayed at another mosque, said he heard the blast as he was walking home. 

 

“I rushed to the spot and when I went inside the hall there was blood and human remains everywhere and people crying out,” he told AFP.

 

“I brought my pick-up truck, loaded three wounded and drove them to the hospital in Khar,” he said, referring to the nearest town.

 

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif later condemned the bombing, saying the government would remain steadfast in their fight against extremists.  

 

“The cowardly attacks by terrorists cannot shatter the government’s resolve to eliminate terrorism from the country,” read a statement from Sharif’s office.

 

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the Pakistani Taliban routinely attack soft targets such as courts, schools and mosques.

 

On September 2, at least 14 people were killed and more than 50 wounded after a suicide bomber attacked a court in the Pakistani city of Mardan in an assault targeting Pakistan’s legal community that was claimed by the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar Taliban faction. 

 

The group has also said it was behind an attack on lawyers in southwest Quetta, which killed 73 people on August 8, as well as the Lahore Easter bombing that killed 75 in Pakistan’s deadliest attack this year.

 

Pakistan’s deadliest ever attack occurred in Peshawar in December 2014, when Taliban militants stormed a school killing more than 150 people, mostly children.

 

The army launched an operation in June 2014 in a bid to wipe out militant bases in the northwestern tribal areas and so bring an end to the bloody insurgency that has cost thousands of civilian lives since 2004.

 

As a result security in the country has since improved. Scattered attacks still take place, but they are fewer and of a lesser intensity than in previous years.

 

According to data from the South Asia Terrorism Portal, 457 civilians and 182 security forces were killed in Pakistan from January 1 to September 11, putting 2016 on course for fewer casualties than 2015.

 

Last year, the country recorded its lowest number of killings since 2007, when the Pakistani Taliban was formed. – Rappler.com