Pakistan suicide bombing kills at least 56 in Shia mosque in Peshawar

A suicide bombing at a mosque during Friday prayers in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar has killed at least 56 people and wounded 194 others, according to AFP.

Police and hospital officials said the death toll was expected to rise when 30 deaths were counted earlier on Friday, as many of the injured were in critical condition, Reuters reported.

The authorities have not said who may be behind the attack.

"We are in a state of emergency and the injured are being shifted to the hospital," police officer Mohammad Sajjad Khan told Reuters.

Senior police official Ijaz Khan told Reuters that two armed men arrived near the mosque on a motorcycle and were stopped for a search by police on duty outside.

"They opened fire on the police...and entered the mosque," he said.

Police are still determining if both had carried out suicide attacks inside the mosque.

(Reuters, AP)