An explosion in the mosque of a police station has caused at least 34 deaths and 150 injuries, this noon in Peshawar, northwest of Pakistan. The detonation occurred during prayer, when more than three hundred policemen were inside. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has attributed the attack to “a suicide bomber”, which constitutes a serious security breach.
Not in vain is it the central police station of this troubled city near Afghanistan, with a long history of attacks. Many of the victims were in the first rows and would have been buried by the rubble, when one of the walls of the mosque collapsed.
The massacre has not been claimed, but most attacks on security forces bear the hallmarks of the Pakistan Taliban Movement (TTP), with no organic link to the Afghan Taliban. After the latter’s victory in the war in Afghanistan, there has been a parallel resurgence of attacks by the self-styled Islamic State in Afghanistan, and by the TTP and the Baluchi insurgency in Pakistan.
Today’s attack in Peshawar has sparked a desperate call for blood donations from hospital officials. It has also led to increased security measures in Islamabad, with the presence of snipers in government buildings.
The latest carnage at a center of worship in Pakistan took place in Peshawar itself in March 2022, when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives at a Shiite mosque, killing 56 and injuring 200. As usual in other sectarian massacres, it was claimed by the Islamic State.
The increase in violence coincides with a time of great political and economic uncertainty in Pakistan, nine months before the elections, in which Imran Khan -dismounted last spring in a tortuous vote of no confidence- aspires to regain power. Last Monday, Pakistan experienced a massive blackout of more than fifteen hours, triggered by a desperate attempt to save fuel at several power stations.
The fact is that foreign exchange reserves are running out, waiting for a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that does not finish materializing, while the specter of a suspension of debt payment grows. Of course, unlike Sri Lanka, Pakistan can again play the card of being “too big to fail”, especially with the scarecrow of its nuclear arsenal.
It should be said that the largest item in Pakistani budgets is destined to pay interest on previous loans, which allow the country’s political-military elite to maintain a spectacular lifestyle without paying taxes, but whose benefits for the mass of the population – to which the IMF demands greater sacrifices – are doubtful.
