Death Toll From Pakistan Mosque Bombing Rises to 100

The death toll from a suicide bombing at a mosque in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar has risen to 100, a medical official says, as the South Asian country faces a mounting security challenge from armed groups.

“So far, 100 bodies have been brought to Lady Reading Hospital,” the spokesman for the largest medical facility in the city, Mohammad Asim, said in a statement on Tuesday.

The vast majority of those killed in Monday’s bombing were police officers, he said.

Kashif Aftab Abbasi, senior superintendent of police operations in Peshawar, says more than 225 people were injured in the blast. Reports said

The roof of the mosque, which was located inside a government security compound, collapsed in the bombing, and rescuers had to remove mounds of debris to recover many of the bodies, authorities said.

The rescue operation had largely shifted to recovery. Reports said

“There has been a ceremonial send-off to those policemen who lost their lives, also funerals taking place across the province, because these policemen came from several districts, so there is mourning across the province,” he said.

The attack is the deadliest in Peshawar in a decade and was carried out during a surge in violence against the police.

Aljazeera /Shakirat Sadiq