Islamabad, Pakistan
CNN
—
The suicide bomber who centered a mosque inside of a police compound in Peshawar, killing greater than 80 folks, was once a member of the Pakistani Taliban disguised as a policeman, a senior professional mentioned Thursday.
CCTV pictures displays the suspected bomber arriving at a police checkpoint on a scooter Monday, asking a constable the path to the mosque, and being let thru since he was once in uniform, mentioned Moazzam Jah Ansari, police leader of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
“This was a suicide bomber and we have traced his movement. He was in a police uniform,” Ansari mentioned.
“We are closing in on the network. Every life of our martyrs will be avenged,” he added.
Officials had in the past put the demise toll at greater than 100, however one of the vital our bodies have been counted two times, Ansari mentioned. The blast additionally injured 217.
The construction comes someday after police in Peshawar arrested a number of suspects.
Police consider 12 kilograms (26.5 kilos) of explosives have been utilized by the bomber.
Video pictures confirmed the destroyed partitions of the mosque, its glass home windows and paneling destroyed through the robust explosion.
Emergency staff looked for survivors, however government mentioned maximum of the ones discovered beneath the rubble have been already useless.
The blast Monday highlights the deteriorating safety scenario in Peshawar, capital of the restive Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan, and the website online of common assaults through the Pakistani Taliban, referred to as Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP).
The TTP has despatched out conflicting messages about whether or not it was once at the back of the assault.
TTP officers Sarbakaf Mohmand and Omar Mukaram Khurasani in the past mentioned the blast was once “revenge” for the demise of TTP militant Khalid Khorasani ultimate yr.
But the TTP’s major spokesperson, Muhammad Khorasani, later denied the gang was once concerned.
The assault comes right through a rocky duration for Pakistan, which could also be suffering with a price of dwelling disaster and a faltering economic system made worse through devastating floods ultimate yr.
