A mosque blast in northwest Pakistan has put a city long scarred by violence back on edge, residents said Wednesday. A suicide bomber slipped unnoticed into a highly sensitive police headquarters and detonated explosives among a row of worshippers in the compound's mosque on Monday, causing a wall to collapse and crush officers.
It's Pakistan's deadliest attack in five years and it harks back to more than a decade ago when Peshawar, a city near the former tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, was at the centre of rampant militancy.
The main fear is a second attack, another attack a suicide bomber may blow himself in a market, said 55-year-old Naeemullah Jan, a building contractor in the city.
Since the Afghan Taliban came to power across the border, the police chief said that the mosque blast was a revenge attack against the police force who are on the frontline fighting a resurgence in militancy.
Authorities are looking into how a major security breach could happen in one of the most closely controlled areas of the city, housing intelligence and counter-terrorism bureaus, and next door to the regional secretariat.
Life in the city has become difficult. Faisal Khan, 39, a salesman, said the police are stopping us at every checkpoint. He said he is now avoiding going to mosque and praying at home.