UAE Strongly Condemns Bombing Of Mosque In Pakistan

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan was shaken by a bombing of a mosque in the city of Peshawar on Monday resulting in the death and injury of several citizens.

The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC) stated that the Emirate Nation strongly condemned the criminal act that was unleashed on Pakistan and it stood by its stand of permanent rejection of any forms of terrorism and acts of violence that hampers the security and safety of the people. 

The militant group Pakistani Taliban has taken responsibility for the bombing

As per the reports of the Peshawar Chief of Police, Aijaz Khan, the death toll was estimated to be around 46 and 157 were injured. The hospital officials also stated that most of the wounded people are in critical condition.

Another Police official, Sikander Khan said that there were a total of 260 people in the mosque at the time of the blast, and this raised suspicion of a targeted attack that would create a high number of casualties. Shehbaz Sharif, the Prime Minister of Pakistan condemned the attack and believed that it was a suicide attack that was intended to disrupt the law and order situation in Pakistan.

According to other sources, a total of 83 people have died, 27 of them being Police officers and around 170 were injured.  

The UAE ministry also expressed its sincere condolences to the nation and the families of the deceased in the bomb blast. The Emirate administration also wished the injured a speedy recovery. Pakistan has been kept on high alert after the bombing that happened during the afternoon prayers and the location in Peshawar is close to the tribal areas closer to the Afghan border. Recently, militant activity in this area has increased.

According to witnesses and reports, the blast was so powerful that it blew off an entire wall and some parts of the roof as well. The rescue efforts were en route as soon as the incident took place and found that a lot of people were buried under the rubble.

The bomber had managed to reach the most secure area of the mosque compound and detonated the bomb exactly when hundreds of people were lining up to offer the afternoon prayer. A serious security lapse has been observed as the bomber was able to sneak into the compound. 

Usually, around 300-400 Policemen used to attend the afternoon prayers at the Mosque and this also led to fears that more people might be trapped under the rubble. The responsibility for the attack was claimed by a faction of the Tehreek- e-Taliban (TTP), which is also known as Pakistani Taliban through their Twitter account. The head group, however, denied their involvement in the incident. 

Other than UAE, several other nations also condemned the bombing of the Mosque in Peshawar. Saudi Arabia, which was the main source of financial and economic aid for Pakistan, released a statement saying that they reject all kinds of violence unleashed on places of worship, on innocent people, and by any terrorist groups.

Qatar administration had also condemned the heinous act stating that they do not support any forms of violence and terrorism, especially in places of worship, that is done on the basis of any kind of motivations or reasons.  

The UAE President, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan had planned to visit Pakistan on Monday but postponed it due to bad weather conditions.

The law and order situation in Pakistan has been on an unstable plain since the return of Taliban rule in Afghanistan. The military crackdown that started in 2014 has majorly reduced the instances of bombing and other forms of terrorism in Pakistan but now the situation is spiking again. 

One of the major threats is the fringe outfit Pakistani Taliban, which doesn’t have any direct connection with the Afghan Taliban but operates on a similar ideology. They have been executing a series of low-casualty attacks on the Police and security forces of Pakistan.

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Earlier in 2021, another terrorist outfit known as the Islamic State Group bombed a Shia mosque in Peshawar that took the lives of 64 people. It was considered one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Pakistan since 2018.

According to the investigators of that attack, the culprit was an Afghani exile who came back to his home to specifically train for the bombing. Suicide bombing is one of the main strategies used by terrorists as it will be spontaneous and hard to spot. 

Amidst the rising economic crisis, the law and order situation has given a serious challenge to the Pakistani administration. 

Arab nations like Saudi Arabia, UAE, etc. had been giving continuous financial aid for recouping the Pakistani economy to a stable level. Saudi Arabia had decided to increase their financial deposits by another $3 billion in Pakistan’s central banks whereas the UAE had extended its loan term with Pakistan and gave another $1 billion as part of its financial loan to support the economy.