New Delhi: The rescue workers located the severed head of the suspected suicide bomber, who, according to them, killed himself inside a mosque packed with worshippers on Monday during afternoon prayers in the high-security zone of Pakistan's tense northwestern city of Peshawar on Tuesday, reported news agency PTI. Even as rescue efforts continued to recover the remaining bodies from the wreckage, police officials reported that the bombing's death toll had increased to 96 and that 221 people had been severely injured.


At approximately 1.40 p.m., when worshipers, including members of the police, army, and bomb disposal squad, were offering the Zuhr (afternoon) prayers, a powerful explosion occurred inside the mosque in the Police Lines area.


According to officials, the front-row suicide bomber blew himself up, causing the worshipers' roof to fall.


Mohammad Aijaz Khan, a CCPO from Peshawar, told Geo TV that the blast appeared to be a suicide attempt and that the suspected bomber's head was found at the scene in Peshawar, the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.


According to Geo TV, he was quoted as saying, "It is possible that the attacker was already present in the Police Lines before the blast and that he may have used an official vehicle [to enter]."


Khan added that the precise nature of the explosion will be known when the rescue mission is finished.


Following the attack, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Caretaker Chief Minister Muhammad Azam Khan announced a day of mourning on Tuesday.


Also Read: Pakistan Mosque Bombing Toll Crosses 90, Many Critical — Here's What We Know So Far


The Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the suicide attack, claiming it was a retaliation for the death of TTP commander Umar Khalid Khurasani in Afghanistan in August.


According to a police official, a portion of the mosque collapsed, and it was believed that several people were trapped beneath it.


The TTP, which was established in 2007 as an umbrella organisation for a number of militant organisations, called off a ceasefire with the federal government and instructed its militants to carry out nationwide terrorist attacks.


The group, which has been linked to al-Qaeda, has been blamed for a number of deadly attacks in Pakistan, including the 2009 attack on the army headquarters, assaults on military bases, and the 2008 bombing of the Islamabad Marriott Hotel.


At least 150 people, including 131 students, were killed when the Pakistani Taliban stormed the Army Public School (APS) in the northwestern city of Peshawar in 2014.


The attack was widely condemned and caused shockwaves all over the world.