The Islamic State’s (ISIS) regional arm in South and Central Asia, ISIS Khorasan (ISIS-K), claimed responsibility for the explosion at a Shia mosque in Peshawar on Friday that killed 62 and injured over 200. The attack has been reported to be one of the worst to hit Peshawar in several years.
Pakistani officials claimed that CCTV footage showed a gunman killing two police guards while attempting to enter the mosque in Peshawar’s Qissa Khwani Bazaar on Friday. Thereafter, he detonated a suicide vest that had around five to six kilograms of explosives.
Moazzam Jah Ansari, Inspector General of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police, said, “The network behind the attack has been identified. We are working to dismantle it soon.” Furthermore, the Capital City Police Officer, Mohammad Ijaz Khan, added, “The network behind the attack was identified within hours. The family of the suicide bomber as well as the facilitators have been identified and the remaining network will be busted within 48 hours.”
قصہ خوانی بازار کے کوچہ رسالدار شیعہ جامع مسجد میں دو حملہ آور نے گھسنے کی کوشش کی
— Capital City Police Peshawar (@PeshawarCCPO) March 4, 2022
ڈیوٹی پر موجود پولیس اہلکاروں پر فائرنگ ہوئی ہے
فائرنگ سے ایک پولیس جوان شہید جبکہ دوسرا زخمی ہوا ہے جس کی حالت تشویشناک ہے
پولیس ٹیم پر حملہ کے بعد جامع مسجد میں دھماکہ ہوا ہے
1/2 pic.twitter.com/9gwfHSsPuG
Police forces have been deployed to minority religious institutions and polio vaccination centres as a precautionary measure. Pakistani authorities have also vowed to provide “monetary assistance under the government’s special package” for the families of those who died or were injured in the incident.
Condemning the attack, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said that the explosion was an attempt by ISIS-K to “disrupt [the] peace and tranquillity of the provincial capital.” Furthermore, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said that authorities have already gathered all the information about the attack and the assailants, and were “going after them with full force.”
Have personally been monitoring operations & coordinating with CTD & Agencies in the wake of the cowardly terrorist attack on Peshawar Imambargah. We now have all info regarding origins of where the terrorists came from & are going after them with full force.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) March 4, 2022
The incident has been condemned by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), which in a statement wrote: “The members of the Security Council reiterated that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed.” It also called Pakistan to take action against such incidents and honour its obligations under the United Nations (UN) Charter and other international laws.
According to ISIS’ statement, which was published by the group’s news agency Amaq, the explosion was conducted by an Afghan suicide bomber. The group has been notorious for attacking the Shia minority community in Pakistan. For instance, they launched two bombings at Shiite mosques last year. Furthermore, they attacked Balochistan several times in 2019, targetting the region’s Hazara Shiites. Apart from these constant attacks on the Shia community, they have also targeted other minorities, including Sikhs and Christians, in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa region.
Peshawar has borne the brunt of several such attacks, not just by ISIS but also by the Taliban. In 2014, the Taliban orchestrated an attack wherein nine gunmen killed 148 civilians, including several children, at the Army Public School. In October 2020, a terrorist attack resulted in the death of eight students, with 120 others injured, after a timed explosive went off at a mosque in Dir Colony.