An attack by militants on a Shia mosque in the Pakistani city of Peshawar has left at least nineteen people died. A series of grenade explosions and shots ripped through the building during Friday prayers.

The Pakistani Taliban, who are fighting against the state to set up a hardline Sunni theocracy in the country, claimed responsibility.

Police killed one of the militants in the north western city, another blew himself up and a third was arrested, police said.

One eyewitness told a media outlet prayers had just finished when five or six men in military uniform broke into the mosque and started shooting.

The attack came as Pakistan tries to adopt new measure to tackle Islamists militants following a massacre of 134 children in mid-December at an army run school in the city.