PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Heavily armed militants killed at least 19 people and wounded more than 40 after they stormed into a Shiite mosque during Friday Prayer in a suburb of Peshawar, the main city in northwestern Pakistan, doctors and officials said.
The assault was the most fearsome show of violence in the Peshawar area since a Taliban attack on a school in December that killed about 150 people, and it offered a chilling reminder of the continuing threat from militants in Pakistan despite a concerted crackdown by the security forces.
The police said that at least four gunmen wearing vests rigged with explosives and lobbing grenades entered the crowded Imamia mosque in Hayatabad, an upscale suburb that is adjacent to the Khyber tribal district, a notorious militant sanctuary.
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Pakistani officials have said they believe Mr. Fazlullah is hiding in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan, but they have credited Afghan officials with helping pursue him, in a sign of thawing relations between the two countries.
At the scene of Friday’s attack, Mr. Durrani said the attackers had set their vehicle on fire, apparently to prevent police investigators from finding evidence that could lead to the planners of the assault.
Declan Walsh contributed reporting from London.
