Pakistan: Peshawar mosque bomber was wearing a police uniform
Pakistani police said on Thursday that the suicide bomber who carried out an attack that killed more than 100 people at a mosque in a police compound in the Pakistani city of Peshawar was wearing a police uniform and entered the high-security area on a motorbike.
The police chief of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Muazzam Jah Ansari, said in a press conference that the guards on duty "did not check his identity because he was wearing a police uniform ... It was a failure in the field of security."
He confirmed that the police had a "very accurate idea" of his identity, after comparing his head, which was found at the scene of the explosion, with the images of surveillance cameras.
Ansari added that "a whole network is behind him," explaining that the Monday attack was not planned by one person, adding that the police are about to arrest the members of the network behind the attack.
"I admit that this was a security mistake. My men could not stop the incident. It is my fault," Ansari said.
The attack took place when hundreds gathered to perform noon prayers at a mosque built specifically for police officers and their families inside the heavily guarded Police Lines area.
Ansari explained that the surveillance cameras showed the suicide bomber, who was wearing a helmet and a mask, driving his motorcycle past the main checkpoint of the Police Lines area.
He added that he stopped his bike after that, asked the way to the mosque and walked to it.
And Ansari added, "The police guards at the main entrance thought he was from the security forces and did not search him."
All but three of the dead were police officers, making it the worst attack on Pakistani security forces in modern history.
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