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| Members of a bomb disposal unit surveying the site after a blast at a mosque in Kuchlak, near Quetta, Pakistan.Credit...Reuters |
PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Taliban zealots stormed aShi'ite Muslim synagogue in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing 20 people in a surge of gunfire and explosions before the siege ended, officers said.
The attack marked the rearmost violence against a religious nonage which has suffered repeated bombings and killings by strict mutineers. The violence also underscores the challenges the service and police face in securing the country two months after a terrible Taliban attack on a academy sparked public wrathfulness and calls for lesser security.
The attack in Peshawar megacity injured further than 45 people, according to Mian Mohammad Saeed, Peshawar's head of police operations. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the violence.
There are colorful reports about how numerous bushwhackers carried out the attack. Zealots released a videotape showing the three bushwhackers while the parochial police chief, Nasir Durrani, said four or five bushwhackers were involved.
The bushwhackers entered the synagogue from a structure coming door that was under construction, he said. They jumped over the external wall into the yard of the synagogue.
One person also blew himself up, creating a diversion so the other bushwhackers could enter the synagogue, Durrani said. He said at least three bushwhackers failed in the violence-two by blowing themselves up, and a third killed by worshipers at the synagogue.
"The people then showed great courage. They caught the neck of one of the bushwhackers, and he could not crump (the snares), and he was shot and killed,"Durrani added. Authorities are still examining the scene, and Durrani didn't say what happed to the remaining bushwhackers. Several worshipers who fled the synagogue reported that at least some of the bushwhackers were wearing security uniforms.
"The prayer was nearly finished when there was a huge explosion, followed by dust and bank. I've seen in the middle of the bank a man in police livery opened fire and also there was another explosion," said one of the injured. Syed Javed Hasan, 22, speaks from his sanitarium bed.
Pakistani Taliban spokesperson Mohamad Khurasani said the attack was in vengeance for the prosecution of one of their members by the Pakistani government. This is the same group that claimed responsibility for the terrible attack on a academy, also in Peshawar, on December 16 that killed 150 people, nearly all scholars.
The violence has scarified Pakistan and led to cries that further had to be done to fight the zealots. The military stepped up operations in ethnical areas skirting Afghanistan, and the government lifted a ban on prosecutions in terrorism- related cases.
But despite these sweats, the attacks continued. On January 30, insurgents targeted a Shia synagogue in the southern megacity of Shikarpur, killing at least 59 people.
Sunni Muslim crazies frequently target Shia pilgrims and places of deification because they don't consider Shiites to be true Muslims. It had made numerous Shia people sweat for their own safety. In Peshawar, the imam of an attacked Shia synagogue asked God to help cover his congregation.
"It's opprobrious and veritably sad that people come to kirks to worship and rather lose their lives," said Maulana Nazir Hussain, who said he lost his son and whoreson in the violence.