In yet another incident of blast in cash-strapped Pakistan, at least 44 people were killed after a powerful explosion took place at the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) workers' convention in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur’s district on Sunday. According to Geo News, the incident happened at around 4 p.m. as Maulana Laeeq was addressing the convention. The reports confirmed that more than 200 people were injured and have been shifted to a nearby hospital in Peshawar.
As per the reports, those who were killed include JUI-F's Tehsil Khar's Amir Ziaullah Jan. Notably, (JUI-F) or Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam is a Deobandi Sunni political party in Pakistan
The blast reportedly took place inside the convention and law enforcement agencies have cordoned off the area. The police are yet to confirm the cause of the blast.
JUI-F leader Hafiz Hamdullah escapes blast
Speaking on Geo News, JUI-F leader Hafiz Hamdullah said he miraculously escaped the explosion as he was supposed to attend the convention but could not because of some personal commitments.
"As per the reports I have received, 10-12 workers have been martyred and over a dozen injured. I strongly condemn the blast and want to give a message to the people behind it that this is not jihad but terrorism,” the JUI-F leader said, adding that today’s incident was an attack on humanity and Bajaur.
According to multiple local media reports, journalists were also injured in the blast.
Explosions in Pakistan
It is worth mentioning explosion in Pakistan is very frequent in the country. According to the government, the "Afghani terror" organisations were responsible for the increase in terror activities especially in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as it shares an international border with Afghanistan. Earlier last week, a suicide blast at a historic mosque in northwest Pakistan killed a police officer. As per police, additional SHO Adnan Afridi was killed in the blast at Ali Masjid (mosque) in the tribal Jamrud tehsil bordering Peshawar.
The blast blew minutes after PM Shehbaz applauded the police force
Interestingly, today's blast happened nearly two hours after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif lauded the efforts of law enforcement agencies, especially the police for ensuring the "best arrangements" during Ashura Day celebrations. He hailed the officials for conducting the religious ceremony with peace and "no untoward incident".
"The efforts of all law enforcement agencies, especially the police, on a peaceful Ashura day are commendable. The Interior Minister and his team, Chief Ministers, Provincial Interior Ministers including Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, IGs and administration ensured the best arrangements so that people could celebrate Ashura Day with peace and religious devotion and no untoward incident took place," he had tweeted at 4.04 pm today.
