PESHAWAR, Pakistan — An attacker wearing a vest of explosives blew himself up inside a packed mosque during Friday prayers, killing at least 30 and wounding 40 more in northwestern Pakistan, officials said.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but a local government official blamed the Taliban and said it was probably retaliation for a Pakistani military offensive against militants in the Swat Valley region.
It was unclear whether any military figures or prominent anti-Taliban local officials were in attendance at the Sunni Muslim mosque in the village of Haya Gai in Upper Dir, a rough-and-tumble district next to Swat.
The Taliban has threatened a campaign of revenge attacks for the offensive. Although most of the bombings have targeted security forces, militants have also targeted civilians.
Police said a man wearing an explosives vest entered the mosque but was recognized as a stranger by some worshippers. When they confronted the man, he blew himself up, said Atlass Khan, an Upper Dir police official.
Police Chief Ejaz Ahmad said the confirmed death toll was 30, but the number was expected to increase because there were more body parts to be counted and some of the 40 wounded were in critical condition.
Atif-ur-Rehman, a top official in Upper Dir’s government, blamed the Taliban, though he said the investigation was in its early stages.
“It is obvious. They are Taliban,” he told AP. “We can say it seems to be a reaction to the offensive in Swat.”
Pakistan launched its Swat offensive in late April, after the Taliban violated a peace deal with the government that gave them control of the valley by advancing into nearby Buner district just 60 miles from Islamabad, the capital.
Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, said Friday that the offensive appeared to be clearing Swat of militants, though handling the refugee crisis would be “the real test” of success.
