At least 59 people were killed and 157 others were wounded.
ISLAMABAD and LONDON -- A suicide bomber detonated explosives inside a mosque in northwestern Pakistan on Monday, killing and wounding dozens of worshippers, officials said.
The blast occurred at a mosque near police offices in Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, not far from the country's border with Afghanistan. More than 150 people were reportedly were praying when the suicide bomber struck. An eyewitness told ABC News that the roof collapsed from the impact.
Security and government officials confirmed the explosion was from a suicide bomber. The Pakistan Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, have claimed responsibility for the attack.
Security officials inspect the site of a mosque blast inside the police headquarters in Peshawar, Jan. 30, 2023.
Maaz Ali/AFP via Getty Images
At least 59 people were killed and more than 157 others were injured, a local hospital spokesperson told ABC News. Among those killed were 33 police officers.
It's not clear how the bomber was able to slip into the walled compound, which houses the police headquarters in the northwestern city of Peshawar, and is itself located in a high-security zone with other government buildings.
Security officials and rescue workers search bodies at the site of suicide bombing, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Jan. 30, 2023.
Zubair Khan/AP
Pakistani Prime Minster Shehbaz Sharif, who visited the scene in Peshawar on Monday, condemned the bombing and urged people to donate blood to help save the wounded.
The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad also issued a statement condemning the "horrific attack."
