44 killed, 100 injured in blast in Pakistan

As many as 44 people were killed and more than 100 were injured after a suicide bomber triggered a blast at a political party meeting in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a Pak media outlet reported yesterday. The blast occurred at around 4 pm, when the meeting organised by Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) was underway in Khar in Bajaur district.

Television footage of the site showed ambulances moving the injured to the hospitals. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.

The condition of the majority of the injured people was stated to be critical.

Maulana Ziaullah Jan, a prominent leader of the JUI-F in Khar, also passed away in the blast, Bajaur District Emergency Officer Saad Khan told a Pakistan daily. He also said that the injured persons are being shifted to nearby hospitals in Peshawar and Timergera.

The chief of JUI-F, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, demanded a thorough investigation into the incident from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the province’s caretaker Chief Minister, Azam Khan. He also urged the party workers to reach the hospital and donate blood.

“JUI workers should remain peaceful and federal and provincial governments should provide the best treatment to the injured,” said Fazl.

Chief Minister Azam Khan condemned the blast and sought a report from the district administration. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Haji Ghulam Ali, who is also a central member of JUI-F, confirmed the death toll.

Speaking on Geo News after the incident, JUI-F leader Hafiz Hamdullah said he had missed the meeting because of some prior commitments, though he was invited.

“I strongly condemn the blast and want to give a message to the people behind it that this is not jihad but terrorism,” the JUI-F leader was quoted as saying, as he called the incident “an attack on humanity and Bajaur”.

Recalling that this is not the first time that his party JUI-F has been attacked like this, he demanded a probe into the incident. “This has happened before, our workers have been targeted. We raised our voice over this in Parliament but no action was taken,” he told Geo News.

Along with Hamdullah, several other leaders from across Pakistan have condemned the attack and offered their condolences to the bereaved families of the deceased.

Caretaker Information minister of the province Jamal Feroze Shah said an emergency was declared in hospitals of Peshawar and dir district.

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in terrorist attacks following the Afghan Taliban’s return to power in August 2021 and called upon the interim rulers to take decisive actions against terrorists including the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) responsible for cross-border attacks.