UN officials deplore suicide bombing at Pakistani mosque

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has strongly condemned today’s suicide bombing at a mosque in north-western Pakistan that has reportedly killed more than 40 people and injured at least 100 others.

Media reports say the attack took place during Friday prayers at a mosque in the village of Ghundi in Pakistan’s Khyber tribal region.

In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Mr. Ban offered his condolences and said he was “appalled at this deliberate attack at a place of worship during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and the reported use of a teenager to perpetrate the attack.”

The statement stressed that the United Nations will continue to stand by Pakistan in its efforts to combat terrorism.

In a separate statement, Radhika Coomaraswamy, Mr. Ban’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, noted that there has been an increase around the world this year in the use of children – whether wittingly or unwittingly – as suicide bombers.

“A more despicable act is hard to fathom” she said. “Those who use girls’ and boys’ bodies as bombs are the worst victimizers of children. We hope that an international outcry from every continent and creed will help bring an end to this practice.”