Iran slams fatal blast in Pakistan, urges collective fight against terror in region

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has censured a deadly attack on a religious school in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar, saying the fight against acts of terror in the region requires vigilance and collective cooperation among all regional countries.

Saeed Khatibzadeh, the ministry’s spokesman, said on Tuesday that systematic acts of terror in some neighboring countries in recent weeks are part of sinister plots to escalate ethnic and religious discord in the region.

He added that the killing of innocent people, including defenseless children, showed that the perpetrators are not bound by any moral and human principles.

At least seven people were killed and over 80 wounded, including children, after an explosion targeted a Holy Qur’an study class at a religious school in Peshawar on Tuesday.

Peshawar's deadly day: Huge blast hits Pakistani religious school

At least seven people are killed and scores more wounded in an explosion targeting a religious school in Pakistan’s northwestern city Peshawar.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. But the Pakistani Taliban have formerly staged assaults in the area.

Peshawar is the provincial capital of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province bordering Afghanistan. The province has been the scene of attacks by pro-Taliban militants in recent years.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Ambassador to Pakistan Mohammad Ali Hosseini also condemned the bloody attack in Peshawar and said the killing of children learning the Holy Qur’an “shows violent face of terrorism against Islam.”

“It is the duty of every awakened conscience to condemn this violence. #Muslims are oppressed victims of terrorism in world,” the Iranian diplomat wrote in a post to his Twitter.

The #terrorist crime of martyring children learning Quran at a madresah in PٍEW shows violent face of #terrorism against ISLM
It is the duty of every awakened conscience to condemn this violence.#Muslims are oppressed victims of terrorism in world.#Peshawar #Peshawarblast pic.twitter.com/DpjfIEKZWC

— Seyed Mohammad Ali Hosseini (@HossainiSma) October 27, 2020

Pakistan has been battling the scourge of militancy for years. Even though there has been a relative decline in deadly attacks in the country, extremist groups launch sporadic attacks that target both security forces and civilians.

Since 2014, the army has been targeting militant hideouts especially in northern and northwestern regions that are a hotbed of radicalism.

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