The rubble after the bombing at the mosque in Peshawar
(Picture: REUTERS)A suicide bomber who killed 101 people at a Pakistan mosque did not raise suspicion because he disguised himself as a police officer.
Police said the bomber behind the deadly attack on Monday in Peshawar had been identified and they were close to arresting members of the network behind it.
The blast collapsed the roof of the 50-year-old mosque, killing 101 people, mostly male police officers.
Some 225 people were injured.
Regional police chief Moazzam Jah Ansari told a press conference Thursday: “We will avenge the martyrdom of each and every policeman.”
More than 300 worshippers were praying in the Sunni mosque when the bomber set off a suicide vest.
Mr Ansari said the attacker was not searched because guards assumed he was a colleague.
“Yes, I admit that it was a security lapse and I take responsibility for it," Mr Ansari said.
Mr Ansari spoke a day after dozens of police officers joined a peace march organised by the members of civil society groups in Peshawar, demanding protection.
Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif has accused the Pakistani Taliban, known by the acronym TTP, of carrying out the attack, saying they were operating from neighbouring Afghan territory.
Pakistan wants the Afghan Taliban to take action against the TTP. Shortly after the bombing, a TTP commander claimed responsibility.
But more than 10 hours after the attack, the chief spokesman for the group distanced the TTP from the carnage, saying it was not its policy to attack mosques.
On Wednesday, Afghanistan’s Taliban-appointed foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi told Pakistani authorities to look for the reasons behind militant violence in their country instead of blaming Afghanistan.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif visited a hospital in Peshawar after the bombing and vowed “stern action" against those behind the attack.
Pakistan, which is mostly Sunni Muslim, has seen a surge in militant attacks since November when the Pakistani Taliban ended a ceasefire with government forces. Violence has also increased since the Afghan Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021.
The TTP is separate from but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban.
