At least 16 people were killed while another 24 injured in a suspected suicide blast inside a local mosque in Pakistan. The blast struck as Muslims gathered for Friday prayers in the village of Payee Khan in Mohmand Agency district.
Naveed Akbar, deputy administrator of the region, told Reuters that “The suicide bomber was in the crowded mosque, he shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’, and then there was a huge blast.”
Officials said at least 16 people were killed and 23 injured and there were fears the death toll could rise as rescue operations continued.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
However, Tehrik-i-Taliban militants , to which Pakistanis knows as ‘Pakistani Taliban’ are waging an Islamist insurgency in the area and have launched a series of bombing attacks and assaults on security services. Al-Qaeda fighters are also present, while ISIS has recently been seeking to increase its presence in Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan, where it has founded an affiliate called Khorasan Province.
This attack comes after a day of grenade attack
This Suicide Blast came a day after a woman was killed by a grenade in Lower Mohmand Agency after militants attacked a pro-government tribal elder’s home. Mohmand lies in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas, a semi-autonomous tribal region bordering Afghanistan.
Largely deeply conservative, the territory is remote and hard to access, providing sanctuary for extremist fighters targeted in decades of military operations and drone strikes.
Earlier this month, at least 14 people were killed and 52 others injured in a suicide attack at Mardan’s district courts. Six lawyers and two policemen were among the dead.
