At least 40 people were killed and another 83 injured today when four attackers struck the Parade Lane Mosque in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. The attackers threw hand grenades then opened fire on the crowded mosque during Friday prayers.

The mosque, located near the Pakistani Army Headquarters, was a popular site of worship among military officers and defense leadership, and many of them were said to be inside at the time of the attack.

Media reports have several high ranking military officers among the slain, but the army has declined to comment on any reports of who was killed and has blocked attempts by the media to get close to the site to cover the attack. Witnesses say the attackers singled out top military members and executed them first.

Increasingly militants have been striking Rawalpindi, a garrison city mostly associated with the army, with increasing frequency in recent months. Last month a bomber hit a line of soldiers outside a Rawalpindi bank on payday, killing at least 35. A month before that militants launched a direct assault on the army’s headquarters, killing at least 20 people. The Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan has taken credit for today’s attack, as they have with the previous ones.

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