The death toll from Sunday’s suicide bombing at a Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) gathering in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur tribal district rose to 54 on Monday as the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) registered a first information report of the attack.
The blast occurred in Khar, a town bordering Afghanistan, and according to eyewitnesses, hundreds of party workers along with local leaders were present at the JUI-F convention when the explosion ripped through it. JUI-F officials told media that the party’s Khar General Secretary Ziaullah, JUI-F District Press Secretary Mujahid Khan and his son were among the dead.
Speaking to the media in Peshawar on Monday, KP CTD Additional Inspector General (IG) Shaukat Abbas said the death toll from the blast had risen to 54 while the number of injured people stood at 83. He added that 46 of the deceased had been identified. According to the CTD official, the convention began at 2pm and the blast occurred at four past ten.
“We have collected ball bearings from the site of the blast,” he said, adding that the group behind the blast and that there was no specific target of the attack. The additional IG further stated that the suspects “have been almost tracked down in the initial action” taken so far, adding that a forensic report pertaining to the incident was awaited. Meanwhile, traders in Bajaur announced a shutter-down strike across the district.
The KP CTD has lodged an FIR against unknown suspects on charges of terrorism, murder, attempted murder and others. The FIR was registered on the complaint of Station House Officer – Kharniaz Muhammad. It stated that a “suicide attack” ripped through the JUI-F gathering at around 4:10pm on Sunday, claiming the lives of Maulana Ziaullah Jan – the party’s Khar general secretary – and others. Separately, Senior Superintendent (SP) Amjad Khan said investigators had already visited the crime site and gathered evidence to advance with the ongoing probe. He said more than 10kg explosives were used in the attack, adding that the process of geo-fencing at the blast site had also been completed.
