FOG BLOG WORLD NEWS LOG: ATTACK ON PAKISTAN MOSQUE KILLS 60!

Pakistan mosque attack kills more than 60 people A deadly blast in a mosque in Peshawar on Monday, the latest attack on the city in northwest Pakistan, killed at least 61 people and left about 157 injured, according to Peshawar Police Chief Mohammad Aijaz Khan.

Rescue operations are now underway in the mosque, which is situated inside a police compound and is mostly attended by law enforcement officials. In a statement to CNN, Khan, the Peshawar police chief, earlier said the incident inside the Police Lines Mosque was “probably a suicide attack,” echoing Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

“The brutal killing of Muslims prostrating before Allah is against the teachings of the Quran,” Sharif said in a statement, adding that “targeting the House of Allah is proof that the attackers have nothing to do with Islam.”

“Terrorists want to create fear by targeting those who perform the duty of defending Pakistan,” the prime minister continued.

“Those who fight against Pakistan will be erased from the page.”

A “comprehensive strategy” is in the works in order to restore law and order in the northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where Peshawar is located, Sharif also said. Conflicting accounts have emerged about who is behind the attack. A spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP), Muhammad Khorasani, has denied any involvement in the attack.

“Regarding the Peshawar incident, we consider it necessary to clarify that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has nothing to do with this incident. According to our laws and general constitution, any action in mosques, madrasas, funerals grounds and other sacred places is an offence,” Khorasani said in a statement late Monday.

He did not comment on earlier statements by TTP officials Sarbakaf Mohmand and Omar Mukaram Khurasani, who had claimed the blast was “revenge” for the death of TTP militant Khalid Khorasani last year.

The TTP is a US-designated foreign terrorist organization operating in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Pakistan authorities say an investigation is underway, and have not confirmed either claim.