Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for a deadly mosque attack in Pakistan Friday and said it was targeting a local anti-Taliban group.
At least 50 people were killed and 80 others were wounded in the suicide attack that targeted anti-Taliban members at a mosque in northwestern Pakistan, said Shahid Ullah, a senior district government official.
The incident occurred in Darra Adam Khel, about 40 kilometers south of Peshawar, during Friday prayers, police said.
Police say an anti-Taliban, pro-government group known as a peace committee had formed in the area and the attack targeted some of its members.
Tariq Afridi, a local Taliban chief of Darra Adam Khel, said in a phone call that the Taliban warned members of local peace committees many times through letters and calls not to support the Pakistani military.
He said they asked them to dismantle all the peace committees and when they didn't, they faced the result.
"Whoever supports the military will see its results," Afridi said.
Mian Iftikhar Hussain, information minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said "the attackers are wild, not human; anything can be expected from them."
"Militants can't be eliminated until the U.S., Afghanistan and Pakistan share information."
The area, an ungoverned region plagued by militancy, is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province -- just east of the country's volatile tribal region near Afghanistan.
The impact of the blast brought the mosque roof down. The injured were being treated in Peshawar.
In addition, last week, a 7.7-magnitude earthquake hit Indonesia's coast, triggering a tsunami and killing at least 449 people. Hundreds more were injured.
No comments:
Post a Comment