Parachinar, Pakistan– At approximately 11:30 a.m local time, 22 people were killed and 70 were injured after a bomb detonated near the entrance of the women’s Shia mosque. Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a splinter group of Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. According to Reuters, the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed the attack was part of “Operation Ghazi, named after a radical Islamist leader killed by Pakistani security forces in 2007.”

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif made this statement following the attack:

…saying the attack underscores the government’s “unflinching resolve to eliminate the menace of terrorism from the country at all costs”
“The network of terrorists has already been broken and it is our national duty to continue this war until the complete annihilation of the scourge of terrorism from our soil,” the statement said.- CNN
The Pakistani Taliban group also claimed responsibility for another attack in January which resulted in the deaths of 20 people.

Featured image courtesy of Reuters