On 29 September 2023, a bomb

explode An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Supersonic explosions created by high explosives are known ...

d inside a mosque during

Friday prayer In Islam, Friday prayer or Congregational prayer ( ar, صَلَاة ٱلْجُمُعَة, ') is a prayer ('' ṣalāt'') that Muslims hold every Friday, after noon instead of the Zuhr prayer. Muslims ordinarily pray five times each day according ...

s in Doaba, Hangu,

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

, Pakistan. The blast killed five people and injured six others. The attack occurred hours after a similar attack on a religious procession in Mastung in neighboring Balochistan Province that killed at least 50 people.

Attack

A vehicle filled with explosives was stopped at the entrance of a mosque in Hangu. One of the attackers was stopped at the gate as they attempted to enter the mosque, is located within a police facility, and was unable to carry out their plan. This bombing was carried out a few hours after a similar attack in

Mastung District Mastung District ( bal, مستونگ; ur, ) is a district located in the northwest of Balochistan province, Pakistan. Prior to its creation as a separate district in 1991, Mastung was part of Kalat District. Administration The district consi ...

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

. The mosque was crowded with approximately 30 to 40 worshippers at the time of the blast. Police said two men on bikes started shooting at police personnel outside the mosque, after which one of them detonated an explosive close to the mosque’s entrance, while the other blew himself up inside the building.

Casualties

The blast killed five people and critically injured six others. Several others were trapped after the mosque's roof collapsed due to the force of the explosion. Most worshippers managed to escape after hearing the first explosion. The District Police Officer (DPO) of the city confirmed that the explosion occurred within the jurisdiction of the Doaba police station.

Response

Immediately following the incident, a rapid and extensive rescue operation was launched. The critically injured victims were promptly transported to nearby hospitals to receive urgent medical treatment and care.

Investigation

Officials are looking into what happened. Currently, no specific group has acknowledged carrying out the attack. Amir Rana, director of the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, said the Mastung and Hangu mosque bombings appeared to be the work of the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...

(ISIL).

Reactions

The

Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan The Pakistani Taliban (), formally called the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan (Urdu/ ps, , lit=Student Movement of Pakistan, TTP), is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Afghan–Pakistani bor ...

denied involvement in the blast. Raja Pervez Ashraf, the speaker of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

, condemned the attack.

References