Pakistan suicide bombing: An initial probe on Monday by the police in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province suggested that the IS-affiliated Daesh terrorist organisation is behind the deadly suicide attack in the province on Sunday that claimed the lives of 44 people and injured over 200 others.
The powerful explosion took place at the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) workers' convention in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur’s district. The incident happened at around 4 pm as Maulana Laeeq was addressing the convention.
"We are still investigating and gathering information on the Bajaur blast. The Initial probe shows that banned outfit Daesh was involved," said the police.
Geo News reported District Police Officer (DPO) Nazir Khan saying that three suspects have been arrested in the case. More details about the suicide bomber are being gathered by the police.
Meanwhile, an emergency has been declared in the district hospitals and the injured people have been transferred to hospitals in Peshawar through military helicopters.
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.
Interestingly, the 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.
Tensions between Islamabad and Pakistan Taliban
The resurgence of terrorist violence started after a ceasefire broke down between Pakistan and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). In January this year, a TTP commander took responsibility for a deadly attack at a Peshawar mosque that killed over 100 people.
A UN Security Council report mentioned the TTP seeking a merger with Al-Qaeda in hopes of creating an umbrella organisation to shield militant groups in South Asia. This stems from Pakistan blaming Afghanistan for not following its commitment to ensure that its soil is not used for terrorism in Islamabad.
The targeted party JUI-F, led by Maulana Fazlur Rehman, is a major ally of the coalition government of PM Shehbaz, which is preparing for national elections to be held in November.
