UN chief voices ‘deep’ sorrow over terrorist attacks in Peshawar

New York: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed his “deep condolences” over Friday’s terrorist attack against a Peshawar mosque in which at least 56 people were killed and hundreds more injured.

In a phone call to Pakistan UN Ambassador Munir Akram, the UN chief said that this was personal for him since he knows Peshawar very well and had been well treated by its people.

“He asked me to convey his deepest condolences to the people, Government, and leadership of Pakistan,” Ambassador Akram wrote on the Twitter.

Two CCTV videos have surfaced the horrors of the suicide attack in Peshawar’s Jamia Masjid Kocha Risaldar that killed and wounded scores of worshippers.

At least 56 people martyred and several injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up during Friday prayers in the mosque. 

According to the CCTV clips Peshawar blast, people can be seen arriving at the Jamia Masjid for Friday prayers. The assailant opened fire outside the mosque. The assailant was wearing black clothes.

The video clip shows that the attacker opened fire at the two police officers deployed at the entrance of the prayer place while he shot another man on his way in. It also shows that the attacker entered at 13:07 into the prayer hall and seconds later detonated his explosive vest. According to several eyewitnesses, the attacker had opened fire on the worshipers inside the hall.

“When people started running out of the mosque to save themselves the attacker blew himself,” an eyewitness said.

According to reports, the blast occurred during Jummah Prayer in Jamia mosque at 12:55 pm. The injured have been taken to Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar.