At least 40 people have lost their lives and more than 150 have been injured in an explosion at a political rally in north-western Pakistan, according to news agency Associated Press.
The bomb blast was reported in the Khar tehsil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district during a Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) convention. As per reports, a local JUI-F leader has also been killed in the explosion.
Some of those seriously wounded were airlifted to a hospital in the provincial capital, Peshawar, according to Associated Press. Nobody immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the blast at the JUI-F convention. He said terrorists targeted those who advocated the cause of Islam, the Holy Quran and Pakistan.
“Terrorists are enemies of Pakistan and they will be eliminated,” he asserted in a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office, adding that strict punishment would be meted out to those behind the incident.
'Bring Patrons of Terrorists to Justice':
JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, in a statement issued by the party’s media cell, expressed grief over the bomb blast. He sought a probe into the attack from PM Shehbaz Sharif and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government.
In a statement on the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Media Cell, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari condemned the blast and extended condolences to the bereaved.
“The federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments should bring the patrons of terrorists to justice,” he said, stressing that terrorists and their planners should be eliminated.
Former president Asif Ali Zardari said terrorists were everyone’s enemies. “Like Swat, the entire country needs to be cleansed of the nurseries of terrorism,” he stated.
Pakistan has witnessed a resurgence of attacks by militants since last year when the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) pulled out from the the ceasefire agreement with Islamabad.
However, most of the recent attacks have been on security forces and installations, rather than political gatherings, according to Reuters.
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