In Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region on Sunday, a suicide bomber detonated explosives during a political gathering, leaving at least 42 people dead and more than 130 injured, according to police and rescue personnel as cited by Reuters.
In the former tribal region of Bajaur, which borders Afghanistan, the explosion happened during a gathering of the conservative Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) party, which is well-known for its ties to hardline political Islam.
According to district police official Nazir Khan, an emergency has been declared in the hospitals in Bajaur and the surrounding districts where the majority of the injured were transported. Military helicopters flew the seriously injured from Bajaur to hospitals in Peshawar, the provincial capital.
42 people were killed, according to a statement from Rescue 1122, a first aid agency.
More than 130 people were hurt, many of them critically, in the explosion at a JUI-F workers convention in Bajaur, Khar, according to Khan.
According to Akhtar Hayat, the provincial police chief, the explosion was brought on by a suicide bomber.
Since last year, when a truce between the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Islamabad was broken, assaults by Islamist militants have increased in Pakistan. More than 100 people were killed earlier this year in a Peshawar mosque blast.
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While the TTP and its affiliated groups have been responsible for the majority of attacks in Pakistan in recent months, they disassociated themselves from the incident on Sunday, which their spokesman denounced.
Although it does not directly belong to the Taliban in Afghanistan’s western neighbor, the TTP swears allegiance to them. The Taliban-run government in Afghanistan disputes Pakistani security agencies’ claims that the TTP has safe havens there.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Afghan government, issued a statement denouncing the blast.
Attacks in the region have also been carried out by a local branch of the Islamic State, making the TTP not the only violent organization to target the area.
The JUI-F, the targeted party, is a significant ally of the coalition government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as it gets ready for the November elections.
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