At least 12 people were killed and over 40 injured in a suspected suicide attack on a mosque in Pakistan on Friday. The mosque was packed with Friday worshippers in northwest Pakistan's restive Dir area, where security forces have launched an offensive against the Taliban.
The powerful blast occurred when over 200 people were present in the mosque at Hayagai Sherqi in Dir, North West Frontier Province, for Friday prayers, witnesses were quoted as saying by TV news channels.
At least a dozen people were killed and over 40 injured in the attack, Geo News channel reported quoting a witness. Officials said initial reports suggested the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber.
The explosion damaged the mosque and destroyed several nearby shops. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.
Pakistani troops are currently conducting operations against the Taliban in Dir and nearby areas in the Malakand division. Nearly 1,300 militants and about 100 soldiers have died so far in the fighting.
This was the second blast to rock Pakistan on Friday. Earlier in the day, a leading Pakistani lawmaker Yaqub Bizenjo was among four people injured in an explosion in his house in the posh Khyaban-e-Rahat area of the port city of Karachi.
Police said the high-intensity blast occurred when the occupants of the house opened a parcel sent to the residence of the lawmaker, Geo TV reported.
