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Pakistani Militants Target Shi'ite Mosque In Deadly Attack


File photo of a recent attack on a Shi'ite mosque in Pakistan.
File photo of a recent attack on a Shi'ite mosque in Pakistan.

Militants have attacked a Shi'ite mosque in northwest Pakistan, killing at least 10 people and wounding more than 60 others.

Eyewitnesses said worshippers had gathered for Friday Prayers in the Imamia Mosque in the city of Peshawar on February 13 when the militants threw hand grenades inside the mosque and then opened fire.

Television footage showed people running from the area as thick smoke billowed and ambulances took way the wounded.

An eyewitness said: "there was a huge explosion, I can see many injured lying in front of me."

The Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack. In an e-mail to Pakistani jouranlists, Muhammad Khurasani, a purported TTP spokesman, said the attack was revenge for the recent execution of Taliban militants.

Pakistan has suffered rising sectarian violence in recent years, most of it by hard-line Sunni Muslim groups against minority Shi'a.

With reporting by AFP and AP

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