A shocking video of the deadly bomb blast which rocked Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Sunday has been released on social media. The suicide bomb blast has claimed at least 39 lives and injured over 200, although the numbers are expected to rise.
The explosion took place at 4 pm at the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) workers' convention in Khar, the capital of Bajaur tribal district.
The video which is doing the rounds on social media was shot just moments before the blast when the party convention of Jamiat Ulema Islam was going on.
DIG police Malakand Range Nasir Mehmud Satti said the initial investigation revealed it was a suicide blast. However, evidence is being collected to determine the nature of the blast. The area was sealed and a search operation has been initiated, he said.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack
The JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman demanded Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the province's caretaker Chief Minister Azam Khan to investigate the incident.
He also urged the party workers to reach the hospital and donate blood.
"JUI workers should remain peaceful and federal and provincial governments should provide the best treatment to the injured," said Fazl.
Chief Minister Khan condemned the blast and sought a report from the district administration. Police said that the injured have been shifted to a nearby hospital.
JUI-F leader skips convention
JUI-F leader Hafiz Hamdullah said he was supposed to attend the convention today but could not because of some personal commitments. “I strongly condemn the blast and want to give a message to the people behind it that this is not jihad but terrorism,” he said, adding that it was an attack on humanity and Bajaur. Hamdullah extended his condolences to grieving families and urged the provincial government to provide the best medical facilities to the injured.
Hamdullah demanded that the blast should be probed, recalling that this was not the first that the JUI-F had been targeted. “This has happened before...our workers have been targeted. We raised our voice over this in the Parliament but no action was taken,” he said.
