At least 56 dead, 194 wounded in suicide attack on Pakistan Shiite mosque

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[b]PESHAWAR[/b] – At least 56 people were killed and 194 wounded yesterday by a suicide bomb at a Shiite mosque in the northwestern Pakistan city of Peshawar, the deadliest attack in the country since 2018.

The blast – claimed by the Islamic State group – tore through the Kocha Risaldar area of the city moments before Friday prayers were to start, shattering the interior and showering the streets with broken glass.

It came on the first day of a cricket Test match in Rawalpindi – around 190km (120 miles) to the east – between Pakistan and Australia, who have not toured the country in nearly a quarter of a century because of security concerns.

Muhammad Asim Khan, a spokesman for Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital, said the death toll had climbed to 56, the deadliest since a July 2018 blast – claimed by the local chapter of the Islamic State group – killed 149 people at an election rally.

He said 50 of the wounded were in critical condition.

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