Nearly 200 people were injured and 63 died in the attack.
IS stated that the suicide bomber who attacked the mosque was from Afghanistan. It said that he shot two police officers who were guarding the Shiite mosque in northwest Peshawar, before going inside and setting off his explosive device. As worshipers were kneeling in Friday prayer, the attacker opened fire on them. It is located in eastern Afghanistan, where it is known as IS in Khorasan Province.
Taliban rulers in Afghanistan condemned the attack, as they have been fighting IS. Since its August 2014 rise to power, IS has been the Taliban’s most serious security threat.
“We condemn the attack on a mosque in Peshawar (Pakistan) Taliban Deputy Minister of Culture and Information Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted that there is no reason to attack civilians and worshippers. He declined to comment on claims by IS that the suicide bomber was Afghan.
Asim Khan, spokesperson for Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital, stated that the death toll is likely to rise. He said that at least four of the 38 patients who are still in hospital are in critical condition.
Pakistanis laid to rest their dead late Friday night and Saturday morning under heavy security with sniffer dogs. Police conducted body searches on mourners, who were then searched again by the Shiite community of Pakistan.
Many mourners cried and beat their chests as they attended the funeral prayers of 13 victims on Friday night and another 11 Saturday morning at Peshawar’s Kohati Gate. Some of the shrouds had Quranic verses and some covered the coffins. They were placed on open ground and made visible by bare lights bulbs.
Hayat Khan said that these were worshippers and human beings inside the mosque. He was burying a relative late Friday night.
According to police, one of the officers killed in the shooting outside Kucha Risaldar mosque was the first. The second victim died from his injuries later.
Fawad Chaudhry, Pakistan Information Minister, stated in a statement that the three investigation teams were set up to examine forensic evidence as well as closed-circuit TV footage in order to find the attackers.
According to The Associated Press, an investigator in the case said that footage showed the attacker arriving at the scene in a motorized rickshaw with two others. They are currently being sought. He said that sketches were made of the suspects, but he did not want to identify them as he wasn’t authorized to talk to the media.
Mohammad Ali Saif (spokesman for the provincial government) told reporters that the driver of the rickshaw had been captured and that the search for his accomplices was continuing.
The AP captured CCTV footage showing the attacker concealing his bomb under a large black shawl. Before entering the mosque, he fired at the officers protecting it.
The explosion is heard within seconds and the lens of the camera is covered with debris and dust. Because it can project deadly projectiles across a large area, the crudely constructed bomb was filled with ball bearings. This is a dangerous way to create a bomb that inflicts maximum carnage. According to Moazzam Jah ansari, the highest ranking police officer in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, Peshawar’s capital, the ball bearings were responsible for the high death rate.
The Pakistani Shiites, a minority group in Pakistan, criticized the government for not ensuring their safety and demanded more attention.
Friday’s attack on Peshawar’s old, congested city was the most severe in Pakistani history. After years of relative calm that came after military operations against militant hideouts along the border with Afghanistan, the country is now witness to new militant attacks.
Since last August, when the Afghan Taliban took power and America ended its 20 year-long involvement in Afghanistan, the attacks have been mostly carried out by Pakistani Taliban. The Pakistan Taliban is not associated with the new Afghan rulers. They are still hiding in Afghanistan, and despite Pakistan’s repeated requests to expel them, none have been found.
The Islamic State affiliate, also known as IS-K is an enemy to the Afghan Taliban. It has conducted multiple operations against them since it came to power in 2013. While Pakistani security officials insist IS is not present in Pakistan, IS claimed responsibility for the attack on the mosque.
According to the IS statement, “Islamic State fighters are continually targeting Shiites living within Pakistan and Afghanistan despite the intensive security measures taken by the Taliban militias and the Pakistani Police to secure Shi’a centers and temples,” the IS statement was posted on its Amaq News Agency website.
