Bajaur suicide blast death toll climbs to 63

The death toll from a suicide blast that targeted a political gathering in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s (K-P) Bajaur district has risen to 63, the district headquarters hospital said on Wednesday.

According to MS District Headquarters Hospital Khar's Dr Liaqat Ali, 43 bodies were brought to the hospital after the blast. He said that so far a total of 63 people have died in the Bajaur blast.

He added that one seriously injured died at the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) Peshawar, four died at CMH Peshawar and two at Timergara Hospital. Dr Ali also said that 13 bodies have been handed over to the relatives.

The hospital administration added that 123 people were injured in the suicide blast and that they are undergoing treatment in different hospitals in the province.

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The blast occurred in Khar tehsil of the district, a town bordering Afghanistan. According to eyewitnesses, hundreds of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) workers along with the local leader were present at the convention when the suicide blast ripped through it. 

The Islamic State-Khorasan claimed the deadly suicide bombing. 

K-P CTD lodged an FIR on the complaint of Station House Officer Kharniaz Muhammad against unidentified suspects on the charges of terrorism, murder, attempted murder and others.

The FIR stated that a “suicide attack” ripped through the JUI-F gathering at around 4:10 pm on July 30, claiming the lives of the party’s Khar General Secretary Maulana Ziaullah Jan and others.

The police said investigators had already visited the crime site and gathered evidence to advance with the ongoing probe.

They said more than 10 kilogrammes of explosives were used in the attack, adding that the process of geo-fencing at the blast site had also been completed.