On Sunday, a tragic suicide bomber attack at JUI-F’s rally in Bajaur, KPK resulted in the loss of at least 44 lives and left more than 200 individuals injured.
According to a senior police official, the explosive device used in the attack weighed approximately 10 kilograms. The nation mourns the loss of innocent lives and prays for the speedy recovery of those injured in this senseless act of violence.
Top Developments of the JUI-F rally blast:
- The tragic blast occurred around 4 pm during a meeting organized by Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) in Khar, Bajaur district.
- District police officer Nazir Khan declared an emergency in hospitals in Bajaur and neighboring areas, where most of the injured were taken for treatment.
- Critically injured individuals were airlifted from Bajaur to hospitals in the provincial capital, Peshawar, using military helicopters.
- Eyewitness accounts describe the horrifying scene after the explosion, with people knocked to the ground, chaos, and scattered limbs.
- Several videos emerged online, capturing the moment of the explosion and showing a large gathering listening to a leader’s address before the blast occurred.
- Chants in support of their leader, Hazrat Maulana Abdul Rashid Sahab, were heard from the crowd just before the explosion.
- Police suspect the Islamic State group, known as an enemy of the Afghan Taliban and operating in Afghanistan, could be behind the attack, but investigations are ongoing.
- Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Arif Alvi condemned the attack and urged officials to provide all possible assistance to the wounded and bereaved families.
- This bombing ranks among the four worst attacks in the northwest region since 2014, when 147 people, mostly schoolchildren, were killed in a Taliban attack on an army-run school in Peshawar.
