A powerful suicide blast inside a mosque in Peshawar’s Police Lines area on Monday killed 72 people while at least 157 others were injured. Some more bodies could stil lbe trapped under the rubble. According to security officials, the suicide attacker was present in the front row during the prayers when he exploded himself, killing and injuring dozens offering namaz, Geo News reported.

The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has taken responsibility for the attack. The Peshawar mosque attack is by far the biggest in the serious of attacks that TTP has been conducting targeting the security forces and their installations.

Sahibzada Noor Ul Amin, Imam of the mosque, was killed in the blast, the police said.

“The blast took place at around 1:40 p.m. when Zuhr prayers were being offered. At the time of the blast, officers from the police, army and the bomb disposal squad were present inside the mosque,” said an eye witness.

“A portion of the building has collapsed and several people, especially those standing in the front row during the prayers, are believed to be under it,” the eye witness added.

Capital City Police Officer (CCPO), Peshawar, Ejaz Khan told the media that it is too early to say anything as many policemen are still trapped under the rubble.

“We are currently focused on the rescue operation. We cannot say with surety, but there is smell of explosives inside the mosque,” said the CCPO. He added that the location has the headquarters of the Peshawar Police, CTD, FRP, Elite Force and telecommunications department, Geo News reported.

“Close to 300-400 policemen usually offer prayers at the time of Zuhr. If a blast has taken place inside Police Lines, it is a security lapse but an investigation into the matter can reveal further,” said the CCPO.

“There were at least 120 people inside the mosque when the incident took place. It was a suicide blast because the bomber was inside the mosque’s inner courtyard. The Zuhr prayers had just started when it happened. There were mostly policemen among the injured,” an eyewitness said.

Journalist Qaiser explained that the Police Lines is located in Peshawar Cantt’s most sensitive area, where a large number of law enforcement and FC personnel are present round the clock. “The offices of KP’s Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) and police investigation department are situated there. Usually, 1,000 police personnel are present at the police headquarters,” he added.

The journalist said that in order to inside the area, one has to stop at two police check-posts. “The bomber was able to sneak inside after passing through checking three times,” he said.

The Peshawar suicide attack is the second big mosque attack in Peshawar since last year, when a suicide blast at a Shia mosque in Kocha Risaldar area claimed at least 63 lives. After the devastating suicide blast in Peshawar, security across Islamabad has also been put on high alert.

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan is notorious for sponsoring Islamic terrorism across the world, and especially targeting Bharat which the mullah-military nexus (that calls the shots in Pakistan) hates because of its Hindu identity. But as it has allowed its soil to become a hub of global jihad, the hydra-headed Islamist monster has slowly turned one head towards the Pakistani state itself.

TTP or Pakistani Taliban is a group which shares a common ideology with the Afghan Taliban and also has ties to Al Qaeda. It operates along the lawless tribal belt on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, and has had a resurgence after the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan following America’s hasty withdrawal.

TTP’s stated goal is to overthrow the Pakistani government and establish fundamentalist sharia rule like that implemented by their brothers in Afghanistan. But Pakistan also fears TTP and Afghan Taliban collaborating to make a play for Pashtunistan, a homeland for Pashtuns (aka Pathans or Pakhtuns) that would include vast tracts of Pakistani territory.

So just like Bhasmasura eventually died due to the invincible power he thought he had acquired, Pakistan too is falling victim to its own terror infrastructure through which it has been bleeding Bharat all these years.

TTP and Afghan Taliban also show us the real face of the Pathan community today. So radicalized have Pathans become due to the steady indoctrination from Deobandi madrasas which dot the AfPak region, that their young suicide bombers are willing to blow themselves up in pursuit of their Islamist goals, and of course – the lure of jannat and its 72 hooris promised to them by maulanas.

Yet, the Bollywood movie ‘Pathaan’ presents this deeply radicalized community, which presents a clear threat to subcontinental peace and which brutally persecutes all minorities like Hindus, Sikhs and Shia Hazaras in the areas controlled by them, as peaceful and their genocidal maulanas as kind-hearted, genial old men.

Update

10:40 AM, Jan 31: The casualty count from this terror attack has increased from 44 to 72.

(With IANS inputs)