At least 68 people were killed and 176 others injured in 35 bomb blasts across Pakistan during the second month of 2015 as the number of bomb attacks increased in reaction to the on-going military operation against the militants in northwest region of the country, according to official figures.
Out of total 35 bomb attacks, three were of suicide nature that killed at least 35 people and left 79 others wounded in three different areas of the country.
According to the statistics, the number of killings in bomb attacks in February 2015 was almost 30 per cent less than the causalities occurred in the previous month of January, 2015.
The month-on-month basis comparison showed that the number of killings in bomb explosions in February, 2015 dropped by almost 28 percent when compared to the number of killings in the same month last year.
The worst attack of the month came on February 13, when a group of three suicide bombers wearing the attire of a paramilitary force stormed a mosque of Shia Muslims when worshippers were offering their Friday prayer in Peshawar. The suicide bombers entered the mosque firing indiscriminately and throwing hand grenades at security guards and people before exploding their jackets.
According to police, the attack at the mosque was the revision of the terrorist attack at an army-run public school in the city in December last year that left over 150 people killed, including 135 children.
A faction of banned Pakistani militant group Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack that killed 24 and injured 50 others.
In another incident on February 17, at least nine people including two police personnel were killed and 25 others injured when a suicide bomber attacked a restaurant near the main entrance of a police training centre in Lahore.
In another attack on Shia Muslims community on February 18, at least five people were killed and six others injured when a suicide bomber attacked a mosque in Rawalpindi.
It was the second bomb attack on the Shia Muslims in the same city in two months.
The major bomb attacks were considered to be the reaction of the Pakistan army’s on-going operation Zarb-e-Azb against the militants in the north-western region, which was launched in June last year.