PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A police officer has been arrested in connection with facilitating a suicide bomb attack at a mosque on the premises of a police compound in northwest Pakistan.
Police officer arrested over deadly 2023 suicide bombing at Pakistan mosque
A police officer has been arrested in connection with facilitating a suicide bomb attack at a mosque on the premises of a police compound in northwest Pakistan.
By The Associated Press
November 12, 2024 at 12:28PM
Provincial police chief Akhtar Hayyat announced the arrest of police constable Mohammad Wali at a news conference in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, on Tuesday.
Wali, who worked with the Peshawar police, is alleged to have shared a map of the compound with the suicide bomber who carried out an attack on the mosque on Jan. 29, 2023, killing 101 people, mostly police officers, and wounding 250 others.
Hayyat said Wali had joined the outlawed Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, which orchestrated the attack, in 2023. The arrest was made in a raid on Monday and Wali had confessed to his role in the attack, the chief added.
Police last year released CCTV images from the blast scene showing the suicide bomber in a police uniform approaching the site pushing a motorcycle, giving the impression it had broken down. Hayyat said it is alleged that the uniform had been provided by Wali.
The assault on the mosque inside the police facility was one of the deadliest attacks on security forces in recent years.
about the writer
The Associated Press
The Associated PressMore than 30 pilot whales that stranded themselves on a beach in New Zealand were safely returned to the ocean after conservation workers and residents helped to refloat them by lifting them on sheets. Four of the pilot whales died, New Zealand's conservation agency said.