<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">At least 59 people have been killed by a suicide bombing that apparently targeted policemen praying in a mosque in Peshawar, Pakistan.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The mosque is within the tightly guarded police headquarters area.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"Terrorists want to create fear by targeting those who perform the duty of defending Pakistan," Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Pakistani Taliban denied involvement after an initial claim by one of its commanders.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The group ended a ceasefire in November, and violence has been on the rise since.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In December it targeted a police station - like Peshawar, in the north-west of the country - leading to the deaths of 33 militants.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A hospital spokesman told the BBC the death toll stood at 59, while 157 people had been injured.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Between 300 and 400 police officers were in the area at the time, Peshawar police chief Muhammad Ijaz Khan told local media.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The mosque is in one of the most heavily controlled areas of the city, which includes police headquarters and intelligence and counter-terrorism bureaus.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Sharif said those behind the attack had "nothing to do with Islam". He added: "The entire nation is standing united against the menace of terrorism."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The blast took place around 13:30 (08:30 GMT) during afternoon prayers in the north-western city, near the country's border with Afghanistan.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A video circulating on social media and verified by the BBC shows that half of a wall caved in. The mosque was covered in bricks and debris as people clambered over the rubble to escape.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hours after the blast, BBC News witnessed a facility full of the injured, many still wearing their police uniforms.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Some were covered in burns cream, their skin red with burns from the explosion. Others have broken bones from being hit by falling rubble.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One man said he still could not hear because of the sound of the blast. Another man said he had been rescued after being trapped under the rubble for almost an hour.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The prime minister travelled to Peshawar on an emergency visit, where he will be briefed by local officials and visit those wounded by the blast.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">UN Secretary General António Guterres condemned the attack, with his spokeswoman saying: "It is particularly abhorrent that such an attack occurred at a place of worship."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The attack on the mosque took place at the start of a key week for Pakistani diplomacy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On Monday, the president of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, was due to visit Islamabad - although the trip was cancelled at the last minute because of bad weather.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On Tuesday, an International Monetary Fund delegation is meant to visit Pakistan as part of the process to unlock a bailout loan to prevent the country from defaulting.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Last March, Peshawar was the target of another bombing, which killed dozens in a Shia Muslim mosque in the majority Sunni Muslim country.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the capital Islamabad, police issued a high alert and said security at all entry and exit points to the city had been increased. BBC</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>