Pakistan at War: 50+ Killed in Attack on Mosque

Adil Najam

The enemies of Pakistan struck again today killing 50 people at a mosque in Jamrud.

According to a report in The News:

JAMRUD: A suicide bomber killed at least 50 people when he blew himself up in a crowded mosque near a security check post in Jamrud town of Khyber Agency on Friday… Police, paramilitary forces and government officials were among the congregation in the mosque, about 30 km (20 miles) from the Afghan border. The bomber set off his explosives as a cleric began prayers. “So far we have counted 50 bodies,” Tariq Hayat Khan, the top administrator in the Khyber region, told Geo news, adding the toll could rise.

Between 250 and 300 people were in the mosque and about 125 wounded had been taken to Sherpao, Lady Reading and other hospitals in Peshawar, he said. “It was a suicide attack. The bomber was standing in the mosque. It’s a two-storey building and it has collapsed,” he said.

Worshippers searched through piles of bricks, pulling out bodies and carrying them to ambulances in sheets and on rope beds. There was no claim of responsibility but militants had earlier threatened to blow up the police post next to the mosque, residents of the area said.

“It’s surprising, those who claim that they are doing jihad and then carry out suicide attacks inside mosques during Friday prayers,” Khan said. “They are infidels. They are enemies of Pakistan. They are enemies of Islam,” he said.

The attack came hours before U.S. President Obama is to make a major speech on U.S. strategy in Pakistan and Afghanistan (Af-Pak). Details continue to come in what has now become an all too familiar set of events.