At least 61 people died when an explosion occurred on Monday at a mosque located inside the police headquarters in Peshawar, in northwestern Pakistan.
The incident occurred on the same day that the President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed ben Zayed Al Nahyan, was scheduled to visit Islamabad. The displacement was canceled at the last minute this Monday, officially due to the rains.
A visit by a delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is scheduled for Tuesday to negotiate an unblocking of a loan to prevent the country from falling into a moratorium.
“So far we have received 61 corpses, and 60 injured people are receiving medical attention. There are dozens more injured, who have been sent to two other hospitals in the city,” said Muhammad Asim Khan, a spokesman for Lady Reading hospital in Peshawar. The previous balance was 47 deaths.
The explosion occurred during prayers inside the mosque, located in a compound that, in addition to the police headquarters, also houses the headquarters of intelligence agencies.
The city of Peshawar is close to the border with Afghanistan. The Pakistani authorities decreed maximum alert throughout the country.
A vast rescue operation is underway at the site, launched by firefighters with the help of machinery to clear the rubble.
But by nightfall, there were at least four trapped men visible in the cracks, along with bodies that have not yet been removed.
“The terrorists want to strike fear into those who are tasked with defending Pakistan,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a statement.
“Those who fight against Pakistan are going to be wiped off the face of the earth,” he added. According to the police, the explosion occurred in the second row of the faithful who were praying.
