The suicide bomber at the police headquarters in Peshawar, Pakistan, was wearing a police uniform and a helmet, which enabled him to slip through checks and kill 84 people, according to a downgraded balance sheet.
The officers on duty "did not check him because he was in police uniform (...). It was a breach (in terms of) security", declared Thursday Moazzam Jah Ansari, head of police from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, during a press conference.
Hundreds of police were taking part in a prayer Monday afternoon at the police headquarters mosque when the blast occurred, causing a wall to collapse under which officers were crushed.
The attack left 84 dead, according to a downwardly revised death toll, due to the "double registration" of some deaths by the families, told AFP the chief of police of the city of Peshawar, Muhammad Ijaz Khan. .
He said 83 of those who died were police officers. A civilian woman who lived and worked at the compound was also killed.
This is one of the deadliest attacks in Pakistan for several years, and since the resurgence of violence in the region after the capture of Kabul on August 15, 2021 by the Taliban.
The police have a "pretty precise idea" of the identity of its author, having made the connection between CCTV images and his head, found at the scene of the explosion.
"There is an entire network behind him," added Mr. Ansari, explaining that the attack was not planned by its sole author.
Authorities are investigating how a major security breach may have occurred in one of the city's most tightly controlled areas, home to intelligence and counterterrorism offices, neighboring the regional secretariat .
Authorities are also investigating the possibility that people inside the headquarters' perimeter may have helped coordinate the attack, a senior city police official said on condition of anonymity.
"We arrested people from the police (headquarters) to investigate how the explosive material could have been brought inside and whether police were involved in the attack," the official told AFP. the AFP.
According to the same source, at least 23 people have been detained. Some are from former tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, neighboring Peshawar.
The attack plunged the city back into a state of tension that it had not known since the time, more than a decade ago, when it was the scene of the unbridled militancy of the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), by subsequently driven towards the mountainous border and Afghanistan.
According to experts, TTP militants have grown bolder since the withdrawal of NATO and United States soldiers from Afghanistan and the capture of Kabul by the Taliban.
Security forces have since been the target of an increasing number of attacks that often occur at checkpoints.
Most of these actions are claimed by the Pakistani Taliban or by the regional branch of the jihadist group Islamic State, but the attacks responsible for many deaths remain rare.
The TTP disassociated themselves from the attack on the Peshawar mosque, saying they no longer attack places of worship.
However, police said authorities are investigating whether someone affiliated with the group was responsible for the attack.
02/02/2023 10:33:14 - Peshawar (Pakistan) (AFP) - © 2023 AFP
