“We are going to avenge the martyrdom of each policeman,” Ansari informed a information convention.
The blast collapsed the roof of the 50-year-old mosque, killing 101 folks, largely policemen. 2 hundred twenty-five folks have been injured.
Ansari spoke a day after dozens of law enforcement officials in a uncommon transfer joined a peace march organized by the members of civil society teams in Peshawar, demanding safety for themselves.
Hours after the bombing, Pakistan’s Protection Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif accused the Pakistani Taliban, identified by the acronym TTP, of finishing up the assault, saying they have been working from neighboring Afghan territory. Pakistan desires the Afghan Taliban to take motion in opposition to the TTP group.
Shortly after the bombing, a TTP commander claimed duty, however greater than 10 hours after the assault the chief spokesman for the group distanced the TTP from the carnage, saying it was not its coverage to assault mosques.
On Wednesday, Afghanistan’s Taliban-appointed international minister, nonetheless, had requested Pakistani authorities to search for the explanations behind militant violence of their nation as an alternative of blaming Afghanistan. The feedback from Amir Khan Muttaqi got here after Pakistani officers mentioned the attackers who orchestrated Monday’s suicide bombing have been utilizing Afghan soil to focus on civilians and safety forces.
Greater than 300 worshippers have been praying within the Sunni mosque, with extra approaching, when the bomber set off his explosives vest. Ansari mentioned the attacker was not searched as a result of guards assumed that he was one among their colleagues.
“Sure, I admit that it was a safety lapse and I take duty for it,” Ansari mentioned.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif visited a hospital in Peshawar after the bombing and vowed “stern motion” in opposition to these behind the assault. Pakistan, which is generally Sunni Muslim, has seen a surge in militant assaults since November when the Pakistani Taliban ended a cease-fire with authorities forces.
The violence has elevated in Pakistan because the Afghan Taliban seized energy in neighboring Afghanistan in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO troops pulled overseas after 20 years of battle.
The TTP is separate from however an in depth ally of the Afghan Taliban.
Related Press author Munir Ahmed contributed to this story from Islamabad
