59 killed, 157 injured when explosion hits mosque in NW Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan

At least 59 people, including policemen, were killed and over 150 injured on Monday in northwestern Pakistan when a suspected suicide bomber blew himself up during midday prayers in a mosque, authorities and local media reported.

Mohammad Asim, a spokesman for Lady Reading Hospital in the city of Peshawar, where the blast victims were taken, said in a statement that the number of casualties rose to 59 after rescuers recovered another 15 bodies from the debris.

Some 157 injured were brought to the hospital, Asim said, adding that about 65 injured, "some of them critically," are currently being treated at the facility.

The remaining wounded were discharged from the hospital after treatment, he said.***

In a statement, the Pakistani Taliban's mother organization, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.

The deceased included several senior police officers and the prayer leader.

Defense Minister Khawaja Asif told Geo News that the suspected bomber was standing in the front row of the mosque and blew himself up as soon as the prayers began.

The mosque is located inside a police compound.

"As soon as the imam (prayer leader) began praying, there was a deafening explosion, which tossed me into air and threw me away," Mohammad Mushtaq, a police officer who got injured in the blast, told reporters at the hospital.

In neighboring Afghanistan, the Taliban administration condemned the bombing, calling it "against the teachings of Islam."

In a statement, the Afghan Taliban Foreign Ministry also expressed sympathy to the families of the deceased and injured.