The death toll of a mosque suicide bombing on Monday targeted policemen in the city of Peshawar in Pakistan has risen to 100 people.
This attack was one of the bloodiest in Pakistan’s history and left many more people injured.
The militant group has denied that the Pakistani Taliban had claimed to have been responsible for the bombing. They blamed a splinter group.
The Pakistani Taliban did not claim attacks on schools, mosques, or markets in the past because they claimed they were at war with security forces, and not the Pakistani people.
On Tuesday, January 31, rescuers scrambled to retrieve worshippers buried in the rubble, pulling out nine people alive but recovering more dead bodies. No one remained trapped, local officials said.
Terrorists want to create fear by targeting those who defend Pakistan,? said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, as he declared a national day of mourning.
Between 300 and 400 police officers had been in the area at the time as at the time of the attack, Peshawar police chief Muhammad Ijaz Khan earlier told local media.
Also, funerals have been carried out for more than 20 police officers, their coffins draped with the Pakistan flag. Most of the dead were members of the security forces.
The mosque is in one of the most heavily controlled areas of the city, which includes police headquarters and intelligence and counter-terrorism bureaus.
Sharif said those behind the attack had ? nothing to do with Islam?. he add:?The entire nation is standing united against the menace of terrorism.?
The Pakistan Taliban ended a ceasefire in November, and violence has been rising in the country since. The Pakistani Taliban is separate from the Afghan Taliban but shares the same hard-line Islamist ideology.
