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Soldiers secure the attack site in Peshawar after the explosion
Photo: BILAWAL ARBAB/EPA
Several people have been killed in a suspected suicide attack on a mosque in Pakistan.
A police spokesman told the dpa news agency that at least 22 people had died and more than 90 had been injured.
The AFP agency reports at least 17 dead and more than 80 injured, while the Reuters agency reports a similar number of victims.
"More and more bodies are coming in," said a spokesman for the hospital.
The explosion happened during midday prayers in the major city of Peshawar in the north-west of the country in a high-security zone.
There are many police buildings in the area.
An AFP journalist reported on emergency services carrying the dead into an ambulance.
Accordingly, the roof and walls of the mosque had partially collapsed.
Alleged suicide attack
Authorities assume a suicide attack.
At first no one acknowledged it.
Several Islamist groups are active in the region: In March, a suicide bomber from the jihadist militia "Islamic State" (IS) carried out an attack on a mosque belonging to the Shiite minority in Peshawar, killing 64 people.
It was the most devastating attack in Pakistan since 2018. At the same time, at the end of last year, the Pakistani Taliban – which operate independently of the Islamist Taliban government in neighboring Afghanistan – canceled a ceasefire with the government in Islamabad.
Since then, they have claimed several attacks for themselves.
In Pakistan, the vast majority of the population of more than 230 million people is Muslim.
About two million people live in the city of Peshawar.
mrc/AFP/dpa/Reuters
