Pakistan mosque explosion kills at least 59, wounds dozens in police compound

At least 59 people were killed, including 27 police officers, and 170 more were injured in a suicide bombing that appeared to target law enforcement inside a mosque Monday in northern Pakistan, according to officials.

Up to 400 people were praying in the mosque in the city of Peshawar when the suicide bombing occurred, Peshawar Police Chief Ijaz Khan told Reuters.

Hospital officials said the blast wounded about 170 people, many of whom are in critical condition.

Most of the casualties are police officers, officials told The Associated Press.

While in a crowd of worshipers, the suicide bomber apparently set off his explosives vest, causing the roof to collapse.

Authorities suspect the suicide bomber was targeting police because the neighborhood in which the attack occurred – the "Police Lines" area – is a highly secured zone in which housing officers and other security staff live.

Authorities think several victims remain trapped under a collapsed part of the mosque.

The blast comes less than a year after a man affiliated with the Islamic State – Khorasan Province, also known as ISIS–K, detonated a bomb in a Shia mosque in Peshawar. The March 2, 2022, explosion killed at least 61 people and injured nearly 200.

The Pakistani Taliban initially claimed responsibility for the attack on Twitter but later denied it.