FUNERALS HELD IN PAKISTAN FOR BLAST VICTIMS AS DEATH TOLL RISES TO 54

Mon 31 July 2023:

As Pakistan held funerals and the government vowed to find those responsible for the attack, the dead toll from a large suicide bombing that targeted an electoral rally for a pro-Taliban Muslim lawmaker reached 54.

Although no one immediately claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack, which left almost 200 others injured as well, authorities said their preliminary investigation indicated that the regional offshoot of ISIL (ISIS) may have been involved.

Caught on camera: Dozens killed in bomb blast at political rally in northwest Pakistan#Pakistani پاکستان##باجوڑ_دھماکہ pic.twitter.com/mASaLJT9hp

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) July 30, 2023

The victims were attending a rally organized by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party, headed by politician and Muslim leader Fazlur Rehman. He did not attend the rally, held under a large tent close to a market in Bajaur, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan.

AT LEAST 39 KILLED, 200 INJURED IN BOMB BLAST AT POLITICAL RALLY IN NORTHWEST PAKISTAN

Victims of the bombing were buried in Bajaur on Monday.

The death toll continued to rise as critically wounded people died in hospital, physician Gul Naseeb said.

On Monday, police recorded statements from some of the wounded at a hospital in Khar, Bajaur’s largest town. Feroz Jamal, the provincial information minister, said police were “investigating this attack in all aspects”.

Provincial police chief Akhtar Hayat Khan confirmed the explosion was caused by a suicide bombing, and that DNA testing was being conducted to identify the bomber.

Local police chief Nazir Khan said that at least three suspects were arrested overnight in a possible link with the bombing and were being interrogated by the intelligence and law enforcement agencies.

“What we have concluded from the initial investigation is that the attack carries the hallmark of Daesh [ISIL],” Khan said.

گزشتہ روز باجوڑ میں جمعیت علمائے اسلام کے ورکرز کنونشن میں دہماکے بعد آج قائد جمعیت حضرت مولانا فضل الرحمٰن صاحب کا غم سے نڈھال شدید رد عمل.!!#جےیوآئی_باجوڑکنوینشن_لہولہاں
#باجوڑ_دھماکہ
#Bajaur #BajaurBlast pic.twitter.com/2Wd9hfcJ6Q

— Muhammad Siddiq (@M_Siddiq_01) July 31, 2023

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party supporters had gathered in Bajaur on Sunday as part of their party’s preparations for the next parliamentary elections, expected sometime in October or November after the current parliament’s five-year term ends.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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