Iran Condemns Terrorist Attack in Pakistan

(FNA)- The Iranian Foreign Ministry deplored the Friday terrorist attack on a Shiite mosque in Peshawar, Northwest of Pakistan, which killed over 20 people.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran condemns terrorist attacks on the innocent people of all tribes and religions in Pakistan and believes it runs counter to the teachings of Islam and human values," Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham said on Saturday.

She condemned the Friday terrorist attack in Peshawar, and extended the Iranian nation and government's condolences to the bereaved families of the victims.

The death toll in a militant attack on Imamia Shiite mosque rose to 21 on Saturday after an injured person died of his wounds.

Three heavily armed Taliban militants stormed the Imamia mosque with grenades, Kalashnikovs and explosive suicide vests in Peshawar, the main city in Pakistan's restive Northwest, around the time of the main Friday prayers.

"The death toll has now risen to 21," a senior local police official, Mian Saeed said.

An official at Hayatabad Medical Complex, Tauheed Zulfiqar also confirmed the new toll, and said the injured person, who was in the intensive care unit, had died of his wounds early Saturday morning.

"Around 40 injured people are still under treatment in different hospitals," Zulfiqar added.

The attack came two weeks after a suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in Southern Pakistan killed 61 people, the deadliest sectarian incident to hit the country in nearly two years.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for Friday's attack in an email statement, saying it was revenge for a militant known as Doctor Usman, who was hanged in December.