ISLAMABAD, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Five people were killed and 20 others injured when a suicide bomber detonated himself inside a seminary in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Friday, police and rescue officials said.

"We received a call at about 2:00 p.m. local time (GMT 0900) about the explosion inside the mosque of the seminary, and we immediately dispatched six ambulances to the site and shifted the 20 injured people to the hospital," Bilal Faizi, spokesperson for state-run Rescue 1122, told Xinhua.

The incident happened at "Darul Uloom Haqqania" in Nowshera district. The attack targeted Maulana Hamid ul Haq Haqqani, the seminary's caretaker and head of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (S) party, who was critically injured and later succumbed to his injuries, Inspector General of Police Zulfiqar Hameed told the media.

The explosion occurred after Friday prayers in the mosque of the seminary, causing widespread panic among worshippers, Hussain Ali, a local journalist who was among the first people to reach the site following the explosion, told Xinhua.

"The mosque has the capacity to house over 4,000 people, but on Friday, the seminary students are on leave, and only special guests and some people from the nearby area pray in the mosque," he said.

Talking to Xinhua on condition of anonymity, sources from Nowshera police said that Haqqani was leading the prayer, and the suicide prayer blew himself up right near him when he concluded the prayer.

"The seminary's security (level) is very high. They have their own private security, too. Today, 16 police forces were deployed outside the seminary and three of them protected Haqqani, but the bomber, disguised as a worshipper, managed to sneak into the mosque when the prayer was underway," the sources added.

Emergency has been imposed in three hospitals of the district, while hospital administrations in the provincial capital city of Peshawar have also been directed to remain on high alert.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet. The area has been cordoned off for investigation.

In a statement, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the blast and prayed for the early recovery of the injured people.

He directed the hospital administration to provide the best possible medical facilities to the injured and sought a report of the incident.

President Asif Ali Zardari also condemned the incident, saying that targeting innocent worshippers is a despicable and heinous act, and terrorists are enemies of the country, nation, and humanity. Enditem

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