PESHAWAR, Pakistan: At least 21 worshipers have been martyred and over 60 were injured after the Imamia Mosque and Imambargah located in the Hayatabad area was attacked by terrorists following Friday prayers.

The injured are being treated at the Hayatabad Medical Complex.

The attack comes two weeks after a suicide bombing at an imambargah ‘Karbala-e-Moa’ala’ in Shikarpur, Sindh martyred 65 Shia worshipers during Friday prayer on January 30. Dozens were also injured in the blast.

The attackers first hurled hand grenades before entering the imambargah where they opened fire while one detonated his suicide vest.

Heavy firing was also reported and residents said a thick cloud of smoke had engulfed the Hayatabad’s Phase V area. Residents said three explosions took place inside the Imamia Masjid Imambargah at the time of Friday prayers.

Inspector General Police (IGP) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Nasir Durrani told reporters the attackers entered the mosque by scaling a wall of an under construction building adjacent to the mosque. The IGP said the attackers arrived in a car which they had burnt.

IGP Durrani added that the first suicide bomber carried out the attack in the gallery of the mosque while the body of the second suicide bomber was recovered from inside the mosque. According to the IGP people offering their prayers stopped a third suicide bomber from detonating his vest.
In-charge Bomb Disposal (BD) Unit Shafqat Malik said the attackers looked like Uzbeks.

The Patron-in-Chief of Supreme Shia Ulema Board Quaid-i-Millat Jafariya Agha Syed Hamid Ali Shah Moosavi while strongly condemning the suicide blasts and firing at Jamia Masjid and Imambargah Imamia in Hayatabad Peshawar has termed this incident a naked act of terrorism. In a statement issued here Friday he expressed heartfelt grief on the Shahadat of Nimazis and said the crop of terrorism sown by a dictator is still being reaped. He said the Pakistan’s Armed Forces had started Operation Zarb-e-Azb and our perpetual enemy and chief of the international colonial powers were utilizing all their energies to sabotage it. He said the wounds of Shahadats of Army Public School Peshawar, Imambargah Chittian Hattian Rawalpindi, and Masjid and Imambargah Karbala-e-Mohallah were still alive that Hayatabad incident Friday added another grief for the nation. He said the nation had termed the government’s National Action Plan as a good step but terrorists were reaping the benefit of delay in its implementation.

Agha Moosavi said a lot is being said and done by the government about funds being received by Madaris, loudspeakers and publications based on hatred but neither terrorism can be controlled nor country can be turned into a hub of peace unless the 60 terrorist groups declared as banned officially are not tackled with an iron hand because even at present the banned groups are using the name of Masalik and are taking part in elections. These people are also seen at the government fora and are invited by the foreign embassies in their events and are getting full media coverage for their activities. He said at present rooting out of terrorism is the open challenge for the powers that be, therefore, the government should not delay action against them and give foremost priority to rooting out terrorism on priority basis.

The TNFJ chief made it clear that we can be cut into pieces but we will never allow anyone to cut Pakistan into pieces and sabotage the Operation Zarb-e-Azb. He called upon the government to give briefing to our ambassadors posted abroad and the foreign ambassadors posted in Pakistan that we are being made target of terrorism. Full protest may be lodged with those countries that are making Pakistan their battlefield because if they keep their country dear then we also love everything in Pakistan. He said steps taken to counter terrorism are faulty because innocent people are being arrested and placed in Schedule-4 instead of terrorists.

The Quaid-i-Millat Jafariya Agha Syed Hamid Ali Shah announced again that Tehreek Nafaz Fiqh-e-Jafariya will fully support any good step taken by the government to root out terrorism. He demanded compensation in all incidents including the Hayatabad Peshawar incident, arrest of the culprits and exemplary punishment for them. He called upon the people to remain peaceful because this is not a Maktabi conflict but act of terrorism, therefore, every citizen is under the obligation to support the Pakistan’s Armed Forces and extend full possible cooperation to the government in its steps against terrorism. Expressing heartfelt sympathy with the bereaved families and said the whole nation shares their grief equally. He prayed for early recovery of the injured of the incident and demanded special arrangements for their treatment.