At least 20 worshippers were killed and dozens wounded when suspected militants hurled grenades into a mosque in NWFP during Wednesday evening prayers, an official said. "So far 20 people are confirmed dead and over 35 wounded in the grenade attack by unknown miscreants," a security official told AFP.
Police said the Sunni mosque, located in Dir district of North West Frontier Province near the border with Afghanistan, was full of people offering prayers. "People were offering prayers inside the mosque when unidentified people threw several grenades, causing bloodshed and mayhem," police officer Naveed Khan told AFP.
Local district official Mahmood Khan said three grenades were lobbed into the mosque which hit the last two rows of the congregation and some of the victims were children. The security official said the attack did not appear to be sectarian. "It is a blatant act of terrorism," he said.
He said the district bordered on Bajaur and Swat where Pakistani troops are heavily engaged in a crackdown on al Qaeda and Taliban-linked militants. Despite this, the attack was a rare one in Dir district which has a majority of Sunni Muslims. Mahmood Khan said no one had claimed responsibility for the attack but last month a meeting of elders in the area had issued a strongly-worded statement against the Taliban and had vowed to act against them entering the area.
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