Since Sunday, January 29, there have been three tragedies that have struck Pakistan. Sunday, more than forty people died in a bus crash in the southern province of Baluchistan. At least twenty were found dead, and thirty were lost since a boat capsized on a lake in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Monday, January 30, Peshawar, Pakistan suffered the deadliest attack in a decade. The attack took place during a surge against police. 

In Northwestern Pakistan, inside a mosque, a bomb went off. The bomber killed and injured hundreds, including himself. It is unclear who the bomber was or who was involved in the bombing. However, authorities immediately put suspicion on the Pakistani Taliban, also known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or the TTP. While one of the commanders for the group, Sarbakaf Mohmand took credit for the bombing, the spokesperson, Mohammad Khurasani, distanced them from the attack claiming they played no part in it. 

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s response to the bombing was, “The sheer scale of human tragedy is unimaginable. This is no less than an attack on Pakistan.” 

The target of the bomb was a mosque in Peshawar, Pakistan. Witness accounts state that there were approximately close to over three-hundred people praying inside the mosque. The mosque was a highly guarded police compound that left Pakistani authorities confused and scrambling to determine how the bomber could enter unnoticed. A bomber with a vest stopped on himself would raise alarms immediately, but no one mentioned anything, and only after the bomb went off did anyone realize something was wrong. 

Almost two hundred and fifty people were injured, and over one hundred died in the attack. At the time of the bomb, only fifty-nine were found dead, but as hours passed, injured people succumbed to their injuries. Reports show that the majority of the victims were police officers. 

The Pakistani authorities are searching for the bombing and mourning all the victims. Tuesday, January 31, was a mourning period for the victims.