Suicide bomber detonates inside mosque in Pakistan, killing and wounding dozens

A suicide bomber detonated explosives inside a mosque in northwestern Pakistan on Monday, killing and wounding dozens of worshippers, officials said.

The blast occurred at a mosque near police offices in Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, not far from the country’s border with Afghanistan.

More than 150 people were reportedly were praying when the suicide bomber struck. An eyewitness told ABC News that the roof collapsed from the impact.

Security and government officials confirmed the explosion was from a suicide bomber, though no one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

At least 44 people were killed and more than 157 others were injured, a local hospital spokesperson told ABC News.

Pakistani Prime Minster Shehbaz Sharif, who visited the scene in Peshawar on Monday, condemned the bombing and urged people to donate blood to help save the wounded.

The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad also issued a statement condemning the “horrific attack.”