Islamabad, Aug 19 (IANS) Thirty people were killed and over 50 were injured when a huge blast tore through a packed mosque in northwest Pakistan Friday afternoon, media reports said.
The deafening blast occurred around 2 a.m. in the mosque in Jamrud district in Khyber Agency bordering Afghanistan, Xinhua cited a TV channel as reporting.
Hundreds of people were offering Friday prayers inside the mosque when the explosion took place.
The mosque was destroyed. Geo TV quoted witnesses as saying that the bomb was planted in the mosque.
Earlier Report
Four Killed in Kabul Blasts
Kabul, Aug 19 (IANS): Four people, including two police officers, were killed in two suicide bombings near the house of Afghanistan's First Vice President Mohammad Qasim Fahim here, Xinhua reported.
The first explosion occurred around 5.30 a.m. followed by another one 20 minutes later. Gunshots were also heard.
Two police officers and two suicide bombers were killed in the attack, a police officer said.
One of the attackers blew his explosives-laden car while the other one detonated his suicide vest, the officer said requesting anonymity.
Fahim's house is close to the UNAMA office (United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan) and the Indian consulate.
A security official said that an office of a foreign agency was the target. Six Afghans and eight foreign nationals were inside the building at the time of the attack.
Police have meanwhile cordoned off the area.