At least 35 people were killed and more than 100 were injured when a bomb ripped through a rally of followers of a hardline political and Muslim leader on Sunday in the country’s northwest Bajur region, which borders Afghanistan.
Azam Khan, the chief of the emergency department at the main hospital in Khar, reported that 35 bodies had been brought in, some of which had been taken back by family, and more than 100 people are wounded.
The number was confirmed by government administrator Mohibullah Khan Yousufzai, who also said that those with major injuries were being transported to Peshawar, the capital of the province, for better medical attention.
Nobody took the responsibility of the attack.
An explosion occurred outside of Khar, the district’s capital, as the workers’ convention of Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party was taking place, according to senior police official Nazir Khan.
The explosion occurred prior to the arrival of the top party leader, according to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province’s inspector general of police, Akhtar Hayat Gandapur.
While the attack was not proven to be a suicide bombing, Al Jazeera reported from Islamabad that there were suspicions that Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an armed organisation, may have been behind it.
Rehman is seen as a cleric who supports the Taliban, yet the coalition administration in Islamabad includes his political party.
In order to mobilise supporters for the upcoming elections, which are scheduled to take place by October, meetings are being planned across the nation.
