Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
AFP
AFP
World
Lehaz ALI

Pakistan police try to ID bomber as death toll rises to 62

The death toll from the suicide bombing of a Shiite mosque in Peshawar has risen to 62 as police try to ID the attacker. ©AFP

Peshawar (Pakistan) (AFP) - The death toll from a suicide attack at a Shiite mosque in northwest Pakistan rose to 62 overnight as police said Saturday they would try to identify the bomber from two severed feet found at the scene.

Police also released CCTV footage of Friday's attack showing a man dressed in a traditional shalwar kameez tunic shoot two policemen as he entered the mosque in the Kocha Risaldar area of Peshawar, around 190 kilometres (120 miles) from the capital Islamabad.

He then detonated a suicide vest packed with ball bearings that ripped through the building, crowded with people just moments before Friday prayers were due to start.

The Islamic State group have claimed responsibility for the attack.

"There are seven bodies beyond recognition including two amputated feet which we believe are of the bomber," Peshawar police chief Muhammad Ijaz Khan told AFP.

"We are trying to ascertain identity of the bomber through DNA testing."

He said the death toll had risen to 62 -- including seven children aged below 10.

It was the deadliest attack since July 2018, when a blast at an election rally killed 149 people -- and was also claimed by the local chapter of the Islamic State group.

Ijaz said officials were checking the biometric data of people who had recently crossed into Pakistan from Afghanistan, where IS have previously planned attacks.

Peshawar -- just 50 kilometres from the porous border with Afghanistan -- was a frequent target of militants in the early 2010s but security has greatly improved in recent years.

Sunni majority Pakistan has recently been battling a resurgence of its domestic chapter of the Taliban, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

A one-month truce last year failed to hold and there are fears the TTP, which has targeted Shiite Muslims in the past, has been emboldened by the success of the Afghan Taliban.

Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad said in a video statement that police will "track them down in the next couple of days".

Members of the local Shiite community, meanwhile, were sending bodies of victims to their home districts for burial.

The blast came on the first day of a cricket Test match in Rawalpindi between Pakistan and Australia, who have not toured the country in nearly a quarter of a century because of security concerns.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.