Pakistani Police Say The Bomber May Have Had Help From Inside The Mosque
Pakistani police say the bomber may have had help from inside the mosque as they are looking into how a suicide bomber got into a mosque inside a heavily guarded compound and killed more than 100 people. On Wednesday, they said the attacker may have had "internal assistance" and that they had arrested several suspects.
Author:Paula M. GrahamReviewer:Hajra ShannonFeb 01, 20234.3K Shares130.4K Views
Pakistani police say the bomber may have had help from inside the mosqueas they are looking into how a suicide bomber got into a mosque inside a heavily guarded compound and killed more than 100 people. On Wednesday, they said the attacker may have had "internal assistance" and that they had arrested several suspects.
The bombing on Monday was the deadliest in Peshawar in a decade. Peshawar is a troubled city in the northwestern part of Pakistan that is close to the border with Afghanistan.
All but three of the people who died were police officers. This was the worst attack on Pakistani security forces in recent history and the deadliest attack on police in the frontier Khyber Pashtunkhwa province in recent months.
Peshawar Police Chief Ijaz Khan said:
“„We have found some excellent clues, and based on these clues we have made some major arrests. We can't rule out internal assistance but since the investigation is still in progress, I will not be able to share more details.- Peshawar Police Chief Ijaz Khan
The bomber struck as hundreds of people were praying at noon in a mosque built for police officers and their families who lived in a very secure area.
Suspects arrested over Pakistan mosque blast, police focus on how bomber got in | The World
Investigators, including counterterrorism and intelligence officials, are trying to figure out how the attacker got past the military and police checkpoints into the Police Lines district. This is a self-contained encampment from the colonial era in the center of Peshawar that is home to middle and lower-ranking police officers and their families.
The attack has shaken up the police force and caused police officers all over the province to protest in a way that has never happened before. One protester who was wearing a bulletproof vest asked reporters, "How long will this injustice against us last?" In Peshawar, another group of police chanted, "We want peace."
Peshawar is near the Pashtun tribal lands, which have been full of violence for the past 20 years. The Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), is the most active militant group in the area. They have recently stepped up attacks on the police as part of their campaign against the government in Islamabad.
The TTP has said that it was not behind the attack on the mosque, which no other group has claimed so far. Provincial Police Chief Moazzam Jah Ansari told Reuters that he thought Jamat-ul-Ahrar, a group that broke away from the TTP, was involved. He also said that the bomber's body parts had been found.
The attack was the deadliest in Peshawar since September 2013, when two suicide bombers killed dozens of worshippers at All Saints Church in what is still the worst attack on the Christian minority in the country.
Conclusion
Irfan Khan, a father of five, was one of the people who died on Monday. Khan's 11-year-old son Arsalan told Reuters, "I miss my father very much," as the family was getting condolences at their home. "I saw my father for the last time on Friday. I will never see him again."
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Paula M. Graham
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Hajra Shannon
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