Unidentified militants attacked a mosque in Peshawar in northwest Pakistan during Friday prayers, killing at least 22 worshippers and injuring at least 60 others, police said.
Police said a group of armed men broke into the mosque, where people were attending Friday prayers, and opened fire, following which three explosions were heard inside the building.
The nature of explosions is not known yet. The militants reportedly wore uniforms of security personnel and used hand grenades.
A number of militants inside the mosque continued to exchange fire with security forces for some time, but the operation is now over, said sources.
The mosque was targeted in the Hayatabad area of Peshawar, capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
All hospitals in the area have been put on high alert.
Opposition leader Imran Khan tweeted that he had been stopped from visiting the site by security personnel.
At least 150 people, including 136 students, were killed in an attack on a school in Peshawar on December 16 last year.
Last month, at least 61 people, including children, were killed in a suicide bombing during Friday prayers at a packed mosque in Pakistan’s Sindh province, the deadliest sectarian attack to hit the country in recent times.
