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A suicide bomber struck Monday inside a mosque in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, killing at least 20 people and wounding as many as 96 worshippers, officials said, Associated Press reported.

No one has immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, said Saddique Khan, a senior police official in Peshawar who gave the latest casualty tolls, but the Pakistani Taliban have been blamed in similar suicide attacks in the past.

The bomber detonated his suicide vest as some 150 worshipers — including many policemen from nearby police offices — were praying inside. The impact of the explosion collapsed the roof of the mosque, which caved in and injured many, according to Zafar Khan, a local police officer.

A survivor, 38-year-old police officer Meena Gul, said he was inside the mosque when the bomb went off. He said he doesn’t know how he survived unhurt. He could hear cries and screams after the bomb exploded, Gul said.

Rescuers scrambled trying to remove mounds of debris from the mosque grounds and get to worshippers still trapped under the rubble, police said.

Khan said rescuers are trying to get the wounded to a nearby hospital. He said several of the wounded were listed in critical condition at a hospital and there were fears the death toll would rise, according to the Associated Press.

Peshawar is the capital of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan and has been the scene of frequent militant attacks.

The Pakistani Taliban, are known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, and are separate group but also a close ally of the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in neighboring Afghanistan in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO troops were in the final stages of their pullout from the country after 20 years of war.

The TTP has waged an insurgency in Pakistan over the past 15 years, fighting for stricter enforcement of Islamic laws in the country, the release of their members who are in government custody and a reduction of Pakistani military presence in the country’s former tribal regions, Associated Press reported.

The weather will be cloudy throughout the country due to the influence of the Westerly low pressure system with chances of light rain and snowfall at some places in the Sudurpaschim and Karnali Provinces. The sky is cloudy across the country at present due to the general impact of the Westerly low pressure system, said Meteorologist Binu Maharjan of the Meteorological Forecasting Division, Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. The weather will be cloudy for the whole day today with the possibility of light rain at a few places of Sudurpaschim and at one or two places of Karnali province. The Division has forecast light snowfall at some places in the high hilly and mountainous region of Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces and at one or two places of the high hilly and mountainous region of the rest of the provinces. The same weather will prevail tonight as well, states the weather bulletin issued by the Division today. The Division has urged for precaution for the next 24 hours, stating there is possibility of light rain at a few places of Sudurpaschim province and at one or two places of Karnali and Lumbini provinces. It has also urged for alertness, saying the occurrence of fog and mist in some places of the Tarai region towards the morning is likely to have a general impact on the daily life of people and affect the road and air transport.

A woman, who was critically injured while saving a man from self-immolation, succumbed to her injuries on Monday. The deceased has been identified as Sangita Sapkota of Kahukhola, Pokhara-13. She breathed her last during the course of treatment at the Western Regional Hospital this morning, Kaski police Chief Ajay KC said. Earlier on Sunday afternoon, Krishna Bahadur Chhetri, a tenant at the house of Sapkota, attempted self-immolation. Sapkota sustained injuries while trying to save Chhetri from self-immolation. Police said that 80 percent of her body was burnt in the fire. Chhetri, who sustained minor injuries, is undergoing treatment at the Western Regional Hospital. It has been learnt that both of them were rescued by the locals and rushed to the hospital. Police said that they are looking into the case.

The 70th World Leprosy Day is being marked today by organizing different programs under the theme of “Act Now. End Leprosy”. The World Leprosy Day is observed on the last Sunday of January every year. Since 1954, this day is being observed all around the world in order to raise awareness about leprosy. Despite the fact that Nepal was declared leprosy-free in 2010, new cases continue to emerge, mostly in the Tarai districts. According to government figures, Nepal witnessed a total of 2,285 new patients of leprosy in the fiscal year 2079/080. Leprosy is not a disease that is passed down through the generations. However, doctors say that if someone is seen with leprosy disease in the family or community, the chances of seeing it in others are high. As per the government data, there are a total of 910 cases of leprosy in Madhes Province, which is around 40 percent of the total cases of the leprosy recorded in the country. Surprisingly, Saptari district in Madhes province has no leprosy cases. Likewise, 581 in Lumbini, 345 in Province 1, 205 in Sudurpaschim and 68 cases of leprosy are confirmed reported in Karnali province. The number of leprosy patients is less in Gandaki and Bagmati provinces compared to other provinces. In Nepal, 16 districts have recorded higher cases of leprosy. The districts include Jhapa, Morang, Siraha, Dhanusha, Mahottari, Sarlahi, Rautahat, Bara, Parsa, Parasi, Rupandehi, Banke, Bardiya, Kailali, Kanchanpur and Achham. Starting its operation in Nepal in 1975, NLR Nepal is involved in leprosy, disabilities and inclusive development in the districts of Mahottari and Dhanusha of Madhes province. The organization distributes medicines and conducts preventive measures in those districts. Likewise, the Madhes Province Government has also upped its activities for the treatment and prevention of leprosy, as more cases were reported there. The Lalgadh Leprosy Hospital and Service Centre is offering services to those needy ones under the auspices of Nepal Leprosy Trust. Health Division Chief of Social Development Ministry of Madhes Province, Dr Mukti Narayan Shah, said that leprosy camp would be conducted in every single month in each district of the province to diagnose and cure the leprosy. The Lalgadh Leprosy Hospital and Service Centre is offering treatment to as high as 400 patients of skin and leprosy in every single day.