Karachi: The Pakistani Taliban group said late on Monday the militant group was not behind an explosion at a mosque in the northwestern city of Peshawar in which at least 87 people were killed, while one commander of the group said on Twitter the outfit was responsible for the latest assault.

Police said up to 350 worshipers were inside the mosque for afternoon Zuhr prayers on Monday when the bomber struck.

“Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has nothing to do with this incident,” the group said in a statement shared with journalists. “Any action in mosques, madrasas, funeral homes and other sacred places is an impeachable crime.”

However, TTP commander Sarbakaf Mohmand claimed responsibility for the attack in a post on Twitter.

While the TTP as a group denied responsibility for the bombing, it has recently carried out similar attacks, with assaults on the rise since last November when the outlawed outfit called off a cease-fire signed with the government in May.

“The death toll has now surged to 87 as of 8:00 a.m. today (Tuesday),” Muhammad Asim, a spokesperson at the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) in Peshawar, told Arab News. “Almost 50 wounded are under treatment in the hospital while the rest were either died or discharged after treatment,” he added. 

Commissioner Peshawar Riaz Mehsud said a “big explosion” had completely damaged the mosque’s roof.

“It will be premature to say whether it was a suicide explosion,” he told Arab News on Monday afternoon.

“We haven’t yet confirmed how many policemen are dead and wounded but I think 90 percent casualties are of police personnel because most of those offering prayers in the mosque were policemen.”