On Monday, January 30, 2023, an anonymous suicide bomber inside a mosque in Peshawar, Pakistan, killed himself and 59 other people.

The event occurred during an afternoon prayer around 1:30 pm. The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, denounced the attack. Twenty-seven of the 59 people killed were police officials causing investigators to believe this was a targeted attack. The attacker managed to pass through barricades surrounded by security to enter the “Red Zone” which houses police and counter-terrorism offices in Peshawar. 

The mosque was filled with approximately 400 people at prayer and 170 people were critically injured. Local Taliban known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, a group of Sunni and sectarian militant groups denied responsibility.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif responded to the suicide bombing: 

The bombing happened a day before an International Monetary Fund mission to Islamabad for funding the South Asian country’s economy. Investigations are occurring as well as medical care for all who were injured in the bombing.