Pakistan Taliban claim responsibility for mosque attack

Islamabad, Nov 6 (IANS/AKI) Taliban militants have claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack on a mosque in northwest Pakistan in which over 60 people were killed, saying their target was the “peace council members”.

Taliban commander Tariq Afridi claimed that the outfit has carried out the Friday’s attack near Kohat town to target the “peace council members” involved in the government sponsored peace talks with the Taliban.

Over 60 people were killed and scores wounded when a suicide bomber struck a mosque in Darra Adam Khel near the Kohat town, some 70 km from Peshawar, the capital of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

“The mosque was targeted because most of the worshippers were members of the government-sponsored peace council, aiming to eliminate the Taliban,” Afridi told AKI in a telephonic interview.

The peace councils consisting of tribal leaders and warlords have been set up to negotiate peace with the Taliban.

Militants under Afridi’s command had attacked security forces in Khyber, Peshawar, Kohat and Hangu regions in the past.

In early 2009, Afridi’s group claimed responsibility for the murder and beheading of Polish geologist Piotr Stanczak.

At least five more people were killed Friday in another blast at a mosque in Bada Beer area of Peshawar. So far no one has claimed responsibility for this attack.

–IANS/AKI