30 killed, 50 injured in Pak mosque blast

A blast inside a Shia mosque shook Kocha Risaldar area of Peshawar in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday, with hospital officials saying at least 30 bodies were brought to the Lady Reading Hospital.

At least 50 people have been reported injured.

Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Peshawar Ijaz Ahsan confirmed one police official was martyred while Asim Khan, media manager of Lady Reading, said 30 bodies had been brought to the hospital so far.

The CCPO said that according to initial reports, two attackers tried to enter a mosque in the city's Qissa Khwani Bazaar and fired at the policemen standing guard. As a result, one policeman was martyred while the other was critically injured, the CCPO said. Following the attack, a blast took place in the mosque.

Police official Waheed Khan told AP that the explosion occurred as worshippers had collected in the Kocha Risaldar mosque for Friday prayers.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.

A witness Shayan Haider had been preparing to enter the mosque when a powerful explosion threw him to the street.

"I opened my eyes and there was dust and bodies everywhere," he said.

Evidence has been collected from the site, according to a tweet by the Peshawar CCPO account, adding it was too early to say anything about the nature of the blast.

At the Lady Reading Hospital Emergency department, there was chaos as doctors struggled to move the many wounded into operating theatres. The hospital has been put on red alert and more medical personnel have been called to LRH, the spokesperson added.

The area has a number of markets and is usually packed around the time of Friday prayers, said locals.

Source: Dawn