Islamabad, Pakistan
CNN
—
policeman
The suicide bomber who targeted a mosque inside a police compound in Peshawar, killing more than 80 people, was a Pakistani Taliban member disguised as a policeman, a senior official said Thursday.
CCTV footage shows the suspected suicide bomber arriving at a police checkpoint on a scooter on Monday, asking a gendarme for the direction of the mosque, and being let through as he was in uniform, said Moazzam Jah Ansari, chief of the police in the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“He was a suicide bomber and we traced his movement. He was wearing a police uniform,” Ansari said.
“We are getting closer to the network. Every life of our martyrs will be avenged,” he added.
Officials had previously put the death toll at more than 100, but some of the bodies were double counted, Ansari said. The explosion also injured 217 people.
The development comes a day after Peshawar police arrested several suspects.
Police believe 12 kilograms (26.5 pounds) of explosives were used by the suicide bomber.
Video footage showed the mosque’s shattered walls, glass windows, and panels destroyed by the powerful blast.
Rescuers searched for survivors, but authorities said most of those found under the rubble was already dead.
The development comes a day after Peshawar police arrested several suspects.
Police believe 12 kilograms (26.5 pounds) of explosives were used by the suicide bomber.
Video footage showed the mosque’s shattered walls, glass windows, and panels destroyed by the powerful blast.
Rescuers searched for survivors, but authorities said most of those found under the rubble was already dead.
Monday’s blast highlights the deteriorating security situation in Peshawar, the capital of the restive Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan, and the site of frequent attacks by the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e -Taliban (TTP).
The TTP sent mixed messages about whether it was behind the attack.
TTP officials Sarbakaf Mohmand and Omar Mukaram Khurasani previously said the blast was “revenge” for the death of TTP activist Khalid Khorasani last year.
But the TTP’s main spokesman, Muhammad Khorasani, later denied the group’s involvement.
The attack comes at a difficult time for Pakistan, which is also grappling with a cost of living crisis and a failing economy made worse by devastating floods last year.
The suicide bomber who targeted a mosque inside a police compound in Peshawar, killing more than 80 people, was a Pakistani Taliban member disguised as a policeman, a senior official said Thursday.
CCTV footage shows the suspected suicide bomber arriving at a police checkpoint on a scooter on Monday, asking a gendarme for the direction of the mosque, and being let through as he was in uniform, said Moazzam Jah Ansari, chief of the police in the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“He was a suicide bomber and we traced his movement. He was wearing a police uniform,” Ansari said.
“We are getting closer to the network. Every life of our martyrs will be avenged,” he added.
Officials had previously put the death toll at more than 100, but some of the bodies were double counted, Ansari said. The explosion also injured 217 people.
The development comes a day after Peshawar police arrested several suspects.
Police believe 12 kilograms (26.5 pounds) of explosives were used by the suicide bomber.
Video footage showed the mosque’s shattered walls, glass windows, and panels destroyed by the powerful blast.
Rescuers searched for survivors, but authorities said most of those found under the rubble was already dead.
Monday’s blast highlights the deteriorating security situation in Peshawar, the capital of the restive Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan, and the site of frequent attacks by the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e -Taliban (TTP).
The attack comes at a difficult time for Pakistan, which is also grappling with a cost of living crisis and a failing economy made worse by devastating floods last year.
