JAKARTA - The death toll from the suicide bombing that destroyed the mosque at a police complex in Pakistan on Monday, increased to 88, making the attack one of the deadliest in recent years.
Mohammad Asim Khan, spokesman for Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar City, on Tuesday confirmed the death toll and said about 50 other blast victims were being treated for injuries.
Meanwhile, hope faded in search for survivors, as rescue workers filtered the rubble and debris of the mosque that was almost destroyed.
"We don't expect the living to be found. Most of the bodies have been found," said Bilal Faizi, spokesman for the rescue team.
Meanwhile, Nasarullah Khan, a police officer who survived the explosion, said he remembered seeing "very large flames" before being surrounded by plumes of black dust.
Khan said his leg was broken due to the explosion. He said he was trapped in the rubble for three hours.
"The ceiling is collapsing... the space between the ceiling and the walls is where I managed to survive," he said bitterly.
Meanwhile, Monday's explosion is the latest sign of the deteriorating security situation in Peshawar, the capital of the turbulent Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, as it borders Afghanistan and the place made by the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tereek-e-Taliban (TTP), as targets of attack.
Washington labels this group a foreign terrorist organization operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Last year, a year-long ceasefire between the TTP and the Pakistani government threatened not only escalating violence in the country, but also potentially increasing cross-border tensions between the Afghan government and Pakistan.
Yesterday, TTP officials Sarbakaf Mohmand and Omar Mukaram Khurasani claimed the explosion was "revenge" for the deaths of militants TTP Khalid Khorasani last year.
However, the main TTP spokesman later denied the group was involved in the attack.
"Regarding the Peshawar incident, we consider it necessary to clarify that Tereek-e-Taliban Pakistan has nothing to do with this incident," TTP spokesman Muhammad Khorasani said in a statement late Monday.
"According to our general laws and constitution, any action in mosques, madrasas, burial sites and other holy places is a violation," he said.
Pakistani authorities said an investigation was underway and had not confirmed the claim.
Separately, Pakistan's Human Rights Commission also condemned the attack in a statement Monday.
"Incomplete law enforcement personnel continue to be targeted in incidents that claimed civilian and police casualties. We demand that the state take action now," the agency said.
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