At least 44 people were killed and over 100 were wounded in the suicide assault on a political convention of a hardline Islamist party, according to police in Pakistan’s unrest-ridden Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region, who stated that preliminary evidence suggests that the outlawed terrorist organization ISIS is responsible. Over 400 members of the conservative Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) party, which is renowned for its ties to extreme political Islam, had gathered for a gathering beneath a canopy in the Afghan border town of Khar on Sunday when the incident occurred.
“We are still looking into the Bajaur explosion and collecting data. According to police authorities published by Geo News, the first investigation revealed that the outlawed organization Daesh (ISIS) was involved. The bomb disposal squad team was reportedly gathering evidence from the scene as the police claimed to be gathering information about the suicide bomber.
Nazir Khan, a district police officer, reported the arrest of three suspects. The explosion employed 10 kg of explosives that were detonated by a suicide bomber, according to provincial police head Akhtar Hayat Khan. The conference goers situated in the front rows, he said, including the bomber.
According to local authorities, the assailant set off explosives close to the convention’s stage. Police and witnesses said that the explosion happened as soon as JUI-F District Amir Maulana Abdul Rasheed stepped onto the platform.
Navagai Tehsil General Secretary Maulana Hameedullah, JUI-F Tehsil Khar Maulana Ziaullah Jan, District Information Secretary Mujahid Khan, and several party members were among those who perished. Riaz Anwar, the interim health minister for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), said on Sunday night that the assault claimed the lives of 44 people while injuring more than 100 others.
In the hospitals in Bajaur and the surrounding districts, where the majority of the wounded were sent, an emergency has been declared. Military helicopters have flown the seriously wounded from Bajaur to hospitals in Peshawar, the province capital. More than 150 wounded patients have been transported to the Bajaur District Headquarters Hospital, according to Bajaur District Health Officer Dr. Faisal Kamal.
According to him, more than 35 individuals have been transported to the Timargarh hospital, while 15 seriously wounded people have been flown by a Pakistan Army chopper to Peshawar. The death toll might increase further, according to rescuers, since 15 individuals remain in serious condition.
The bomb has been harshly denounced by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who has warned that those guilty would be found and punished. “The Pakistani nation, law enforcement agencies, and our protectors will never allow such cowardly tactics of the enemy to succeed,” he tweeted.
Sharif talked with Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the leader of the JUI-F, to offer his condolences. We share in your pain on an equal footing. He said that the country as a whole will work to put a stop to terrorism and that the offenders would get just punishment.
He directed that an inquiry into the event be conducted and that the seriously wounded people be flown by helicopter to other hospitals. Arif Alvi, the president of Pakistan, expressed his condolences to the grieving families and prayed for the departed’s everlasting rest. He also emphasized prompt medical attention and wished the wounded people a swift recovery.
Azam Khan, the interim chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, requested a thorough police probe on the explosion in a statement released on Sunday. Additionally, he went to the Combined Military Hospital in Peshawar, where he spoke with patients and asked how they were doing.
Over 500 individuals were present at the conference when the bomb took place, according to a witness named Rahim Shah who spoke to Dawn.com. He said that I was rendered unconscious by a huge explosion while we were listening to a bayan (or sermon).
When Shah regained consciousness, he said that there was blood everywhere around him. He said, “People were screaming, and even shots were fired.”
The extent of the injuries, according to Sabeehullah, a 24-year-old JUI-F supporter whose arm was shattered in the bomb, was frightening. There was complete disarray, coupled with dead corpses and human remains spread over the neighborhood. I was discovered resting close to a person who was missing limbs. He was reported in the article as adding that the scent of human flesh permeated the whole area.
In a statement released by the party’s media unit, the JUI-F leader expressed sorrow over the tragedy. He asked Prime Minister Sharif and the KP administration to launch an investigation into the assault. Fazl prayed for the wounded to recover quickly and stated, “May Allah raise the ranks of the martyrs.”
Additionally, he urged JUI-F employees to rush to hospitals and donate blood. Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah promised to prosecute the attackers of today’s incident in a tweet.
We must allow terrorists’ despicable deeds to lower our spirits, he continued. Imran Khan, a former prime minister, expressed his sadness upon hearing about the explosion and his condolences to the families of the dead.
He said that the government should put its attention on eradicating terrorism since the number of terrorist attacks in Pakistan, especially in KP, has increased. The Taliban leadership in Afghanistan’s spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, has denounced the assault. Khalid Khurrasani, a TTP spokesperson, also denounced the explosion.
Following the Taliban’s restoration to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, there has been an increase in terrorist strikes in Pakistan. On January 30, a suicide bomber from the Pakistani Taliban detonated himself at a mosque in Peshawar during the afternoon prayers, killing 101 people and wounding over 200 others.
In Pakistan’s most populous city, Karachi, heavily-armed TTP militants assaulted the police chief’s office in February, setting up shooting that resulted in the deaths of three rebels and four others, including two police constables.
