The Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP), known as Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the blast, which it said was a “revenge” for the death of TTP militant Khalid Khorasani last year. But later it denied any involvement.

Most of the worshippers at the mosque, situated in the midst of security and army establishments, were security personnel, who were the likely target. The suicide bomber had sneaked in wearing police uniform.

ISLAMABAD, Jan 31: The death toll in Monday's suicide bomb blast in a mosque in Peshawar in north-west Pakistan reached 100 on Tuesday as 15 bodies were recovered from the mounds of debris. Over 150 others were also injured. The roof had collapsed on about 300 worshippers praying in the hall at the time. The suicide bomber had sneaked in wearing police uniform.

Located in the midst of a host of law enforcement and army establishments, most of those killed were police and security personnel who usually attend the prayers there. Even the police headquarters is close by. The blast took place in the afternoon when prayers were going on. The police were the likely target.

The Sunni mosque compound is walled and the place is a high-security zone. Pakistan is Sunni Muslim majority.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP), known as Pakistani Taliban, claiming responsibility for the blast, said that it was a “revenge” for the death of TTP militant Khalid Khorasani last year.

However, a spokesman for the TTP, Muhammad Khorasani, has denied any involvement in the attack, according to CNN. “Regarding the Peshawar incident, we consider it necessary to clarify that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has nothing to do with this incident. According to our laws and general constitution, any action in mosques, madrasas, funerals grounds and other sacred places is an offence,” Khorasani said in a statement late Monday.

Peshawar is the Capital of the northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, near the border with Afghanistan. The TTP is a terrorist organization operating in Pakistan, and is apart from Afghan Taliban which currently rules Afghanistan. It has been waging insurgency along Pak border areas for the last 15 years.

“The brutal killing of Muslims prostrating before Allah is against the teachings of the Quran... “Targeting the House of Allah is proof that the attackers have nothing to do with Islam,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a statement. He visited Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar to meet those injured. The sheer scale of the human tragedy is unimaginable, he said.

A Shia mosque in Peshawar was attacked last March by the Islamic State (IS), killing 61 people.

Marking a fierce but interesting competition among the billionaires, adventure specialist Richard Branson launched commercial space travel from his 'Spaceport America' on Sunday, pipping the world's richest man, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, to the post, becoming the early bird to fly to the edge of space as the first private space tourist nine days earlier than his rival. Although he did not cross the Karman line.

The Mars rover, a six-wheeled, SUV-sized robotic vehicle, sailed through space for seven months to land on a prime spot for geo-biological study of the red planet for signs of ancient extraterrestrial life. It takes radio waves 11 minutes to reach Earth. (Listen to:- DAVID BOWIE: Life On Mars?:)

After his reappearance, Alibaba's Hong Kong-listed shares went up by 8.5%. The Chinese billionaire made his public appearance on Wednesday. (SEE Video: Davos 2015 - An Insight An Idea with Jack Ma - A conversation with Jack Ma, Founder and the then Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group, on leadership, entrepreneurship and the future of commerce: Interviewed by Charlie Rose, Anchor, CBS News, USA)