# Peshawar Police Lines Mosque Bombing (30 January 2023)

URL: https://allhistories.com/pakistan/timeline/2023-peshawar-police-lines-mosque-bombing
Location: Police Lines, Peshawar
Themes: Terrorism, Police

At about 1:30 pm on 30 January 2023 a suicide bomber disguised as a police officer passed several checkpoints and entered the Police Lines mosque in Peshawar during midday prayers. More than 300 people were present, mostly police. About 12 kilograms of explosives brought down the roof. Reports give 84 killed, 83 of them police, and 217 wounded; early reports of 101 were revised after double counting. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a Tehrik-i-Taliban splinter, claimed the attack as revenge for the killing of its founder in August 2022. The main Taliban spokesman denied involvement, saying a policy bars attacks in mosques; analysts at the Crisis Group argued the group likely knew of the plan. A June 2022 truce between the Taliban and the government had collapsed in November, and attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were rising. Police protested on 1 February demanding an investigation, and large anti-militancy rallies followed. India, China, the US and others condemned the attack, while the Afghan Taliban foreign minister denied the attackers operated from Afghan soil. The bombing marked the return of large-scale militancy to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the 2021 Taliban takeover in Afghanistan. At this point in the timeline (2023), President Arif Alvi (9 September 2018 – 10 March 2024) headed the state of Pakistan, while Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (10 April 2022 – 14 August 2023) headed the government.

## Why it matters
It killed 83 police officers and signalled the resurgence of militant attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the truce collapsed.

Ruler at the Time: [Arif Alvi](https://allhistories.com/pakistan/rulers/arif-alvi)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — 2023 Peshawar mosque bombing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Peshawar_mosque_bombing)
- [Wikipedia — 2025 Afghanistan–Pakistan conflict](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Afghanistan%E2%80%93Pakistan_conflict)