Pakistan mosque suicide blast kills 38
Saturday, 6 June 2009
PESHAWAR, June 5(AFP) : A suicide bomb ripped through a mosque packed with worshippers in northwest Pakistan Friday, killing 38 people and wounding dozens more in the deadliest such attack in more than two months.
The bomb exploded at the mosque in the remote, mountainous village of Hayagai Sharqai in Upper Dir, which borders the district of Swat, where the military has focused its blistering air and ground assault against the Taliban.
Police said the attack occurred during weekly Muslim prayers, which convene Friday afternoon and generally see mosques filled with people.
Malik Naveed Khan, police chief of North West Frontier Province (NWFP), said 38 people were killed and 50 wounded in the explosion.
"We fear the death toll may rise to 45 because people are still trapped under the debris. Rescue work is under way," Atif-ur-Rehman, the top government official in Upper Dir, told AFP by telephone.
"The mosque courtyard is littered with blood and human flesh," he added.
Rehman said the bomber entered the mosque shortly before prayers but that as he tried to push his way into the centre of the crowd, people around thought he looked suspicious and tried to pounce on him.
"During the scuffle he detonated himself," Rehman said.
The bomb exploded at the mosque in the remote, mountainous village of Hayagai Sharqai in Upper Dir, which borders the district of Swat, where the military has focused its blistering air and ground assault against the Taliban.
Police said the attack occurred during weekly Muslim prayers, which convene Friday afternoon and generally see mosques filled with people.
Malik Naveed Khan, police chief of North West Frontier Province (NWFP), said 38 people were killed and 50 wounded in the explosion.
"We fear the death toll may rise to 45 because people are still trapped under the debris. Rescue work is under way," Atif-ur-Rehman, the top government official in Upper Dir, told AFP by telephone.
"The mosque courtyard is littered with blood and human flesh," he added.
Rehman said the bomber entered the mosque shortly before prayers but that as he tried to push his way into the centre of the crowd, people around thought he looked suspicious and tried to pounce on him.
"During the scuffle he detonated himself," Rehman said.