Deadly attack at Pakistan mosque

The rubble of destroyed houses are seen past the burned-out dashboard of a car following a suicide car bomb attack in Hangu district on March 24, 2011.

The rubble of destroyed houses are seen past the burned-out dashboard of a car following a suicide car bomb attack in Hangu district on March 24, 2011.

Published Feb 1, 2013

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Peshawar, Pakistan -

A bomb exploded outside a mosque in north-west Pakistan on Friday, killing at least 12 people and wounding dozens of others as worshippers poured out after the main weekly prayers, officials said.

The attack happened in the town of Hangu, which is close to Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt on the Afghan border where Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militants have carved out strongholds.

“At least 12 people were killed and 28 others wounded,” district police chief Mian Muhammad Saeed told AFP.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but Hangu has been a flashpoint for Taliban violence and attacks on minority Shi’a Muslims.

There are two mosques in the area of Friday's attack, one Sunni and one Shi’a, and it was not immediately apparent which one was targeted. - Sapa-AFP

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