By IANS,
Islamabad : Forty worshippers were killed in a blast at a mosque in Pakistan’s restive northwest Friday, an official said.
“Around 40 people attending Friday prayers were killed,” Atif-ur-Rehman, the administrator of Upper Dir in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), was quoted as saying.
Upper Dir lies to the north of Lower Dir, one of the three NWFP districts where the Pakistani military has been engaged in anti-Taliban operations for the past 42 days.
Geo TV, however, put the toll at 12, with about 40 people injured.
A Geo TV correspondent said a suicide bomber blew himself up when he was stopped from entering the mosque.
A police officer on the spot said the death toll could not be ascertained as the communications system had collapsed.