UPDATE 3 - 44 killed, 157 injured in NW Pakistan when suicide bomber hits mosque

UPDATES DEATH TOLL; ADDS DETAILS; CHANGES HEADLINE, LEDE; OTHER EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Aamir Latif and Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AA) - At least 44 people, including policemen, were killed and over 150 injured in northwestern Pakistan on Monday when a suspected suicide bomber blew himself up during midday prayers in a mosque, authorities and local media reported.

Mohammad Asim, a spokesman for Lady Reading Hospital in the city of Peshawar, where the blast victims were taken, said in a statement that the number of casualties has risen to 44 as another 12 injured succumbed to their wounds.

The number of injured also soared to 157.

Over a dozen of the injured are in critical condition, he added.

The mosque is located inside a police compound.

The Pakistani Taliban's mother organization, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.

The deceased included several senior police officers and the prayer leader.

Defense Minister Khawaja Asif told Geo News that the suspected bomber was standing in the front row in the mosque and blew himself up as soon as the prayer began.

- Huge blast

Images on local broadcasters showed rescue workers carrying the injured and dead on stretchers and loading them onto ambulances.

Blood-soaked clothes, caps, and shoes and broken glass and wood were strewn in the mosque's main prayer hall, courtyard, and outside the building.

The blast was so huge that it caused the mosque roof to collapse, besides shattering window panes and doors of nearby buildings.

Rescue officials fear that several victims could still be trapped under the debris.

Hundreds of people gathered at the scene to look for missing family members as rescue workers backed by heavy machinery were struggling to clear the debris.

Peshawar has been a hotbed of terrorist attacks for two decades, although the law and order situation has significantly improved in the last few years.

The last major attack in Peshawar took place last year, when a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a Shia mosque, killing 63 people.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and opposition leader Imran Khan have condemned Monday’s bombing, calling it a "heinous" act.

Sharif, who along with army chief Gen. Asim Munir rushed to Peshawar and visited the injured at the hospital, vowed that the perpetrators would be brought to justice.