| 2022 Peshawar mosque attack | |
|---|---|
| Part of thepersecution of Shias by the Islamic State and theinsurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | |
 An ambulance at the mosque after the attack | |
 | |
| Location | Masjid Asna-e-Ashri,Qissa Khwani Bazaar,Peshawar,Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan |
| Coordinates | 34°00′21.5″N71°34′13.0″E / 34.005972°N 71.570278°E /34.005972; 71.570278 |
| Date | 4 March 2022 (2022-03-04) |
| Target | The Kucha RisaldarShiamosque |
Attack type | Shooting,suicide bombing |
| Deaths | 63 (including the perpetrator)[1] |
| Injured | 196[2] |
| Perpetrators |  Islamic State – Khorasan Province |
| Assailant | Julaybib al-Kabuli |
| Motive | Anti-Shi'ism |
On 4 March 2022, theIslamic State – Khorasan Province attacked aShiamosque atQissa Khwani Bazaar inPeshawar,Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,Pakistan. Thesuicide attack, carried out by an Afghan man who was a long-term resident of Pakistan, killed at least 63 people and injured another 196. TheIslamist terror groupIslamic State – Khorasan Province claimed responsibility for the attack.[2][3]
During the late 20th and early 21st centuries in Pakistan,Islamist andsectarian attacks have been very common, killing thousands of people.[4][2] In 2004, their attacks intensified intoan insurgency in the country's northwest.[citation needed] Many major attacks have occurred in Peshawar, the capital and largest city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province in Pakistan thatbordersAfghanistan, including amarket bombing in 2009 that killed at least 117.[5] In 2013, anattack on a Shia mosque killed at least 14 people[6] and thesuicide bombing of a church killed at least 75.[7] Following attacks included aschool massacre in 2014 andanother attack on a Shia mosque in 2015.[8][9] Peshawar experienced "a relative lull" in the years preceding the 2022 attack,[1][10] but there was otherwise "a significant increase of violence" along military outposts at the border between Pakistan andAfghanistan in the months before the attack.[11]
Kucha Risaldar (alternatively romanizedKocha Risaldar,Kucha Risalda) is a predominantlyShiite neighborhood in the old city of Peshawar. The main mosque there, the target of the attack, is located in theQissa Khwani Bazaar.[12][10] It is among the oldest mosques in the area and predates theestablishment of Pakistan as a separate state from theBritish Raj in 1947.[11]
On 4 March 2022 at 12:55 p.m.Pakistan Standard Time (UTC+5),[12] duringFriday prayer, a man dressed in black clothing and armed with a pistol[13] arrived near Masjid Asna-e-Ashri in Kucha Risaldar in a motorizedrickshaw with two others.[14] He then proceeded alone[a] towards the building on foot.[11][10][12][13] He shot atpolice officers outside the building, killing one and fatally wounding another.[1][15][11] Five or six shots were fired.[12][15]
He entered the mosque's main hall and opened fire on the worshippers, who filled the mosque's two floors. Seconds later, hedetonated anexplosive vest carrying around 150ball bearings and 5 kilograms (11 lb) of explosives, causing a powerful explosion which ripped through the room.[12][11][4][16] The explosive vest was hidden by his large shawl and the dark color of his clothes.[11][12] A witness said the attacker detonated the explosives when he reached theminbar, and the policeinspector-general said it occurred in the mosque's third row.[12]
At least 56 or 57 people were initially killed, as well as the perpetrator, and another 196 were injured.[12][11][2] Victims were taken toLady Reading Hospital with 10 arriving "in very critical condition" and 57dead on arrival.[11][10][17] A spokesperson for the hospital said the next day that at least 37 people remained hospitalized with at least four in critical condition and six died overnight, bringing the death toll to 63.[14][1][17]
A police official believed that the ball bearings caused the most deaths, and many victims had limbs amputated byshrapnel.[11] Among the dead was prayer leader Allama Irshad Hussein Khalil, described byAP News as "a prominent up and coming young Shiite leader".[11] Two officers who were wounded as the attacker approached the mosque died at the scene.[1]
It was the deadliest attack in Pakistan since theIslamic State's 2018 election rally bombing inMastung,Balochistan before being surpassed by the similar2023 Peshawar mosque bombing.[2]
On 5 March 2022,Islamic State – Khorasan Province claimed responsibility for the attack viaAmaq News Agency and identified the suicide bomber as Julaybib al-Kabli.[2][3] In a news conference the next day, security officials said that this was an alias and they had identified the attacker. Both Islamic State and security officials said he was an Afghan national,[14][11] and officials added that he migrated to Pakistan decades ago and was previously reported missing by his parents, who suspected he had joined Islamic State.[14]
Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting,Fawad Chaudhry, said that three investigation teams were established to investigate the attack, and the provincial government's spokesperson told reporters on 5 March that the driver of the rickshaw had been arrested.[1]
Funerals were held at Kohati Gate for 24 victims in the evening of 4 March 2022, and the next morning. The burials, attended by hundreds, were under strict security, includingsniffer dogs and body searches conducted by both police and the Shiite community's own security.[1] The Shiite community, feeling that government security was too lax ahead of the attack, demanded better protection and organized country-wide protests throughout the evening of 4 March to condemn the attack.[1][10]
_03_(cropped).jpg) | Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) tweeted: |
My deepest condolences go to the victims' families & prayers for the recovery of the injured. I have asked CM KP to personally visit the families & look after their needs.
4 March 2022[18]
Prime Minister of PakistanImran Khan condemned the attack on the mosque and said that he was personally overseeing the situation and coordinating relevant agencies.[19]
Interior MinisterSheikh Rasheed Ahmad condemned the attack and described it as part of a conspiracy to create instability during theAustralian national cricket team's first visit to the countryin twenty-four years.[20][21] Due to historical security concerns, including the2009 attack on the Sri Lanka national cricket team, international events had been held mostly in theUnited Arab Emirates instead. Pakistan began hosting again shortly before the attack, which occurred hours after the tour's openingTest match.[21][16]
Foreign MinisterShah Mehmood Qureshi claimed that he knew who was responsible for the attack and who was providing the attackers arms and resources with the intent to destabilise Pakistan.[22] Chaudhry described the attack as part of "a big conspiracy" against the country in a statement on Twitter.[23]
TheKhyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council declared a strike across all courts in the province on 5 March in solidarity with the victims.[24]
Azad Marshall of theChurch of Pakistan condemned the attack and urged the government to better secure and protectfreedom of religion, which he described as its "fundamental ethical and legal responsibility".[25]
TheUnited Nations'Resident Coordinator andHumanitarian Coordinator in Pakistan and theSecurity Council condemned the attack.[26][27] It was also condemned by the governments ofEgypt,[28]Iran,[29]Saudi Arabia,[30] theUnited Arab Emirates,[31] and theUnited States.[32] TheTaliban government inAfghanistan also condemned the attack through spokespersonZabihullah Mujahid.[1][33]
Individual condemnations include theArchbishop of CanterburyJustin Welby,[25]Ammar al-Hakim,[34]Muqtada al-Sadr,[35] andGrand Ayatollah Sistani.[36]
TheCounter Terrorism Department (CTD) with the assistance of otherlaw enforcement agencies, killed three terrorists in a raid at Regi Lalma area of thePeshawar-Khyber border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on 9 March 2022, while trying to enter the city ofPeshawar.[37] According toCTD insiders, the three terrorists were part of a network involved in the suicide attack on Peshawar's Kocha Risaldar imambargah mosque and involved in other attacks on law enforcement agencies, including killings of police personnel. Automatic weapons, grenades and ammunition were also recovered during the raid.[37]
