Team News Riveting
Peshawar, January 31
The outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the Peshawar blast but later withdrew even as the death toll increased to 100 on Tuesday.
First, the Taliban-backed TTP claimed the responsibility but later distanced itself from it. Sources earlier indicated that it might have been the handiwork of some local faction of the outlawed group.
According to reports, death toll in Monday blast at the mosque in Peshawar police lines area rose to 100 on Tuesday after more bodies were recovered from the attack site when the debris was removed today.
Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) spokesperson Mohammad Asim said that 100 dead bodies were brought to the medical facility. In a statement, he said 53 injured citizens were currently being treated of whom condition of seven was critical.
On Monday, 59 people, mostly police officials, were martyred and over 150 were injured after an explosion ripped through a mosque in Peshawar’s Red Zone area. The powerful blast blew away the wall of the prayer hall and an inner roof.
Peshawar Division Commissioner Riaz Mehsud said that the rescue and search operation at the blast site has been completed after almost 24 hours.
In a media briefing at the Police Lines on Tuesday afternoon, KP Inspector General (IG) Mauzzam Jah Ansari said that the most pertinent question at the moment was how a “suicide bomber” was able to enter Police Lines and go to the mosque. He said that there was no “central command” at the Police Lines and the checking mechanism was limited to the gate.
“There are canteens present, some construction work was also ongoing. Somehow [explosive] material was brought here in small quantities over a period of time,” the investigating officials guessed. The visitors’ movement was frequent as premises housed a complaint centre.
Jah said probably the bomber entered the premises without the explosive material and later carried it inside the mosque where he blew himself up. “In this regard, a security lapse is also being investigated. A separate committee headed by the Peshawar CCPO has been constituted,” he said.
