Death toll in mosque attack rises to at least 83

The death toll has risen to at least 83 after a suicide attack at a mosque in north-west Pakistan, officials said. Emergency services have now recovered 15 more bodies from the rubble, said Bilal Faizi, a senior staff member at the emergency agency, on Tuesday morning (local time). 150 people were injured. The forces are still clearing more debris from the building in Peshawar, the roof of which collapsed in the attack, Faizi said.

A suicide bomber blew himself up Monday at the church in a police high-security zone that also includes government buildings. It was unclear how the attacker was able to get onto the walled-in area.

A commander of the Pakistani Taliban (TTPP), Sarbakaf Mohmand, said on Twitter that his group carried out the attack. The act was in retaliation for the August 2022 killing of Abdul Wali, known as Omar Khalid Khurasani, in Afghanistan's Paktika province, he said.

Hours later, however, a Taliban spokesman denied the attack on behalf of the group. It is not TTP policy to attack mosques, seminaries and religious sites. Anyone involved in such acts could expect punishment. He did not explain why the commander had previously stated otherwise.