In Pictures: Deadly suicide bombing in Peshawar mosque

The death toll from the yesterday’s suicide bombing in a mosque in Peshawar’s Police Lines area rose to 100 on Tuesday.

On Monday, a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a crowded mosque next to the Police Lines in Peshawar, in a highly fortified security compound, the latest in a string of attacks targeting police.

<p>Authorities use heavy machinery to clear the rubble and search for victims a day after a suicide blast at a mosque inside the police headquarters in Peshawar on January 31. — AFP</p> — Authorities use heavy machinery to clear the rubble and search for victims a day after a suicide blast at a mosque inside the police headquarters in Peshawar on January 31. — AFP

The last major incident of such a nature took place in Peshawar last year when a suicide blast inside a Shia Mosque in Kocha Risaldar area claimed 63 lives.

Peshawar Division Commissioner Riaz Mehsud said that the rescue and search operation at the blast site has been completed, after almost 24 hours.

People and rescue workers gather amid the damages after a suicide blast in a mosque in Peshawar, Pakistan, January 30, 2023. REUTERS/Fayaz Aziz

Earlier, Rescue 1122 spokesperson Bilal Faizi had said that rescue teams were removing the last part of the collapsed roof of the mosque. “But we are not hopeful of reaching any survivors.”

On the other hand, Peshawar police chief Muhammad Ijaz Khan said that more than 90 per cent of the victims were policemen, between 300 and 400 of whom had gathered in the compound’s mosque for prayers.