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Worshipers killed in Peshawar

June 21, 2013

A bomb attack targeting a mosque in the northwestern Pakistan city of Peshawar has killed a number of Shiite Muslim worshippers. Sectarian violence against Shiites has been on the rise in recent years.

https://p.dw.com/p/18twC
A relative comforts a child, who was injured in a suicide bomb attack, after he was brought to the Lady Reading Hospital for treatment in Peshawar June 21, 2013. A suicide bomber attacked a Shi'ite Muslim mosque in the northwest Pakistani city of Peshawar on Friday, killing 12 people and wounding 40 others, local media reported. REUTERS/Khuram Parvez
Image: Reuters

A police spokesman said the attack, in the Gulshan Colony located in the Peshawar suburbs, happened as a prayer leader was delivering his Friday sermons.

At least 15 people are believed to have been killed, and about 25 injured.

"The suicide bomber, who was on foot, first opened fire at police guards who were deployed outside the mosque, then entered the prayer hall where he blew himself up amid worshipers just before the start of prayers," said police official Shafi Ullah.

Local television footage showed holes in the walls and roof of the mosque, caused by ball bearings packed inside the bomber's explosives, as well as spattered blood and broken glass.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but radical Sunni Muslims have stepped up attacks over the last several years on the minority Shiites, who account for 20 percent of the population.

Last Sunday, the Sunni extremist outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for tandem attacks on a university bus and a hospital that killed at least 24. It said that it had sent a female suicide bomber to strike the bus in Quetta, capital of the restive Balochistan province.

About 90 minutes later, a follow-up attack on the hospital treating survivors left at least 11 dead and led to a prolonged gun battle between security forces and militants occupying part of the building.

jr/ipj (AP, AFP, dpa)