A lone Afghan suicide bomber killed at least 56 worshippers and injured 194 others inside a Shiite Muslim Mosque in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar on Friday, according to Islamic State.
According to SITE Intelligence, Islamic State’s affiliate in the region known as Islamic State in Khorasan province, which is based in Afghani territory, claimed responsibility for Friday’s devastating attack.
The statement was posted on the group’s Amaq News Agency. The statement identified the attacker as Afghan, posted his picture and said, “Islamic State fighters are constantly targeting Shi’ites living in Pakistan and Afghanistan despite the intense security measures adopted by the Taliban militia and the Pakistani police to secure Shi’a temples and centres.”
Asim Khan, spokesman for Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar, says many of the wounded were in critical condition. Scores of victims were peppered with shrapnel, several had limbs amputated, and others were injured by debris.
