The World Briefly

January 31, 2023

No Quarter

Pakistan

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A suicide bomber detonated explosives inside a mosque in the city of Peshawar in northwestern Pakistan Monday, killing at least 93 worshippers and wounding scores more, the latest in a series of attacks that have become a flashpoint between Afghanistan and Pakistan, NBC News reported.

The blast occurred at a mosque inside a highly secured administrative zone in the early afternoon and is one often used by police officers. An eyewitness told ABC News that the roof collapsed from the impact.

The Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP), claimed responsibility, CNN reported, saying the blast was “revenge” for the death of TTP militant Omar Khalid Khorasani last year.

Later, the Washington Post reported, the group’s spokesman denied involvement in the bombing, saying it was against “our rules.”

The TTP has been designated as a terrorist group by the US. It operates in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Talks between the TTP and the Pakistani government broke down last year. Since then, the group has taken responsibility for a string of attacks, often targeting sites in Peshawar, which is near the border with Afghanistan.

The attacks by the group have become a major cause of rising tension between the Pakistani government and the Taliban regime in Kabul, the Wall Street Journal noted.

The Taliban, which seized power in Kabul in 2021, had promised it wouldn’t allow Afghanistan to be used as a base for attacks against other countries. But Pakistan says Afghanistan’s leaders are allowing the Pakistani Taliban to do what they want. The TTP hosted the Afghan Taliban for two decades in Pakistan following the US-led ousting of the group from Afghanistan.

The TTP, formed in 2007 under the influence of al Qaeda, is even more radical than the Afghan Taliban, the newspaper added.

This story originally appeared in the January 31, 2023 newsletter, Silent Gestures.