Suicide bomber breaches high security in Pakistan mosque, kills 59

Reuters - A suicide bomber blew himself up insideacrowdedmosqueina highly fortified security compound in Pakistan on Monday, killing 59 people, thelatestattackbyresurgent Islamist militants targeting police.

The attacker appeared to have passed through several barricades manned by securityforcestogetintothe “Red Zone” compound that houses police and counterterrorism offices in the volatile northwestern city of Peshawar,policesaid.

“It was a suicide bombing,” Peshawar Police ChiefIjazKhantoldReuters. Many of the 170 wounded people were in critical condition,hesaid.

The death toll rose to 59 after several people succumbed to their wounds, hospitalofficialMohammad Asimsaidinastatement.

Thebombinghappeneda day before an International

Monetary Fund mission to Islamabadtoinitiatetalkson unlocking funding for the South Asian country’s economy, which is enduring abalanceofpaymentscrisis.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharifcondemnedtheattack.

The bomber detonated his load at the moment hundreds of people lined up tosaytheirprayers,officials said.

“Wehavefoundtracesof explosives,” Khan told reporters, adding that a security lapse had clearly occurred as the bomber had slipped through the most secured area of the compound.

An inquiry was under way into how the attacker breached such an elite securitycordonandwhether therewasanyinsidehelp.

Khan said the mosque hall was packed with up to 400 worshippers, and that mostofthedeadwerepolice officers.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, the worst in Peshawar since March 2022 when an Islamic State suicide bombing killed at