4 killed, 12 injured as blast rips through mosque in Pak's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province

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At least four people died and 12 others were injured in a suicide blast that ripped through a mosque during Friday prayers in Pakistan's restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said.

The blast occurred near the mosque close to the Doaba police station in Hangu district. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

According to police, five terrorists entered the Daoba police station but were immediately engaged by the law enforcement forces. While one terrorist was killed in the firing, the other blew himself near the mosque building causing its roof to collapse.

Three terrorists fled the scene, police said.

There were 30 to 40 worshippers in the mosque at the time of the blast, police said.

Four people were killed and 12 others injured in the blast, both Deputy Commissioner Fazle Akbar and IGP Akhtar Hayat Gandapur have confirmed in separate statements.

The Hangu mosque rescue operation is completed, they said.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's caretaker information minister Barrister Feroz Jamal Shah also confirmed four deaths in the blast.

The blast came a few hours after at least 52 people were killed and over 50 injured in a suicide blast near Madina Mosque on Al Falah Road in restive Balochistan province's Mastung district.

Meanwhile, the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has denied its involvement in both blasts.

In a statement issued by the militant group, TTP spokesperson Muhammad Khorasani said his organisation is not involved in these incidents.

In the Constitution of TTP, no action is allowed in madrasas, mosques, funeral homes and other holy places, he said.

For the past year now, Pakistan has been gripped by a spate of terror attacks, with Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa particularly being under the radar of militants targeting security forces and civilians.