OIC secretary general condoles loss of lives in Peshawar blast

Islamabad: Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha called Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to convey deepest condolences on the loss of innocent lives in the terrorist attack in Peshawar on Friday.

Strongly condemning the incident, the OIC Secretary-General noted that terrorism was a common challenge that needed to be countered together by the Ummah and the international community.

The foreign minister thanked the Secretary-General for the condolences and the expression of solidarity with Pakistan.

The death toll in the bomb explosion in a Peshawar mosque located in Qissa Khwani Bazaar has reached 56 after more persons succumbed to their injuries at the hospital.

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.