QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) – A powerful explosion ripped through a mosque in southwest Pakistan during Friday evening prayers, killing a senior police officer and at least 13 civilians, police said.
The bombing wounded another 20 worshipers in the city of Quetta, the capital of the restive Baluchistan province, said the city’s police chief Abdur Razzaq Cheema.
Several of the wounded were in critical condition, and hospital authorities feared the death toll could climb further.
The slain police officer was the likely target of the attack, but authorities were still investigating, said a second police official, Mohammad Ajmal.
Prime Minister Imran Khan and Baluchistan’s chief minister, Jam Kamal Khan, condemned the attack. In a statement, Pakistan’s military said soldiers were at the scene of the attack to assist civil authorities.