Pakistan suicide bombing kills 63.
Over 120 injured in JUI-F rally blast. Officials reported 63 deaths from a suicide explosion in Pakistan, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif blaming “Afghan citizens” for recent attacks. In this article we will explore details of Bajaur bomb blast and latest updates.
Sunday’s bomb targeted JUI-F rallygoers in Bajaur, northwestern Pakistan. In 2016, the Pakistani military declared the district Taliban-free after years of battle. On Wednesday, Bajaur state hospital spokesman Liaquat Ali reported 63 people had killed in the suicide attack.
A hospital official reported treating 123 more wounded in the attack near the Afghanistan border. Ali said hospitals in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s capital, were treating some of the wounded. ISIL (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack on JUI-F supporters led by Maulana Fazlur Rehman. Rehman leads the government-affiliated Pakistan Democratic Alliance, which includes JUI-F.
Bajaur Bomb Blast Video
Rehman wants all bombers arrested. Prime Minister Sharif alleged “Afghan citizens” across the border were aiding Pakistani suicide bombers. “The Prime Minister noted with concern the involvement of Afghan citizens in the suicide blasts,” Sharif’s office said.
It said “liberty of action available to the elements hostile to Pakistan in planning and executing such cowardly attacks on innocent civilians from the sanctuaries across the border”.
Attacks up
Pakistan has seen an increase in western border attacks since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan two years ago. The pact that ended the US-led occupation required Taliban officials to prevent foreign fighters from using Afghan territory for assaults.
On Wednesday, Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid called the Bajaur bombing a “criminal act” to AFP. He advised preventing such events. “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is serious about preventing its soil being used against anyone, and we won’t allow anyone to create a sanctuary here.”
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is a distinct group associated with the Afghan Taliban. Since ending its ceasefire with the government last year, TTP has launched multiple deadly strikes in Pakistan. It condemned the Bajaur bombing.
In 2014, the Taliban attacked a Peshawar army-run school, killing 147 people, mostly children. Peshawar mosque blast murdered 74 persons in January. In February, a mosque explosion inside Peshawar police headquarters killed over 100 individuals, mostly officers.
A Mess
Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar received many bomb victims.
“Sloganeering and noise abounded. Gul Khan, who attended the rally and visited injured friends in the hospital, claimed the blast occurred then.
It was confusing. It was noisy, smokey, and my ears rang. he told Al Jazeera.
Sultan Zeb told Lady Reading that his 18-year-old nephew Saeed Anwar had killed in Sunday’s blast.
“Anwar loved political rallies. We married him months earlier. After his parents died in another explosion, Zeb raised Anwar. “His wife is pregnant, and she’s only a few months along,” he said.
Mumtaz, a 46-year-old JUI-F worker being treated for shrapnel in her foot and a punctured eardrum, claimed the device caused chaos.
“A massive sound went off, and it was a huge blast that blinded me,” she added. I was confused. Every man for himself in a mass exodus. Everyone wanted to escape and save themselves.”
Possible higher death toll
Sunday’s bombing was one of four biggest strikes in northwestern Pakistan since 2014, when the Taliban attacked an army-run school in Peshawar, killing 147 people, mostly children.
Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder said from Bajaur that “casualties, although high, would have been much higher” if the explosion had occurred in a smaller space.
Hyder said the bomber “was able to get into this area with ease because most of the people are in local dress” and could hide explosives under the customary shalwar kameez.
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