From Our Correspondent :
PESHAWAR: The death toll in the deadly Bajaur bombing rose to 46 on Monday evening as more injured succmubed to injuries. The blast had targeted the gathering of the Jamiat ul Ulema e Islam in the Bajaur district on Sunday evening.
The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) registered the first information report against unknown culprits behind the deadly bombing.
The bomb went off when a party leader was addressing the convention. JUI-F officials told reporters that the party’s Khar General Secretary Ziaullah, JUI-F District Press Secretary Mujahid Khan, and his son were among the dead. The death toll is feared to increase further.
According to the district administration and Rescue 1122 officials, the explosion occurred at 4 pm near the Shandi area, some 2km from Khar.
Dr Naseeb Gul, the district medical superintendent of the Khar hospital, told reporters today that the death toll of the explosion increased to 46 after another injured person succumbed to his wounds.
He said approximately 90 wounded people were brought to the medical facility, adding that 36 bodies had been handed over to the heirs after identification.
Dr Gul said the deceased included five children.
Earlier on Sunday:
At least 20 people were killed and over four dozen were injured in a blast in the Bajaur district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday evening.
KP caretaker Information Minister Firoz Shah Jamal, while confirming the death toll and the number of injuries, said hospitals across Bajaur and neighboring areas had been put on high alert.
“We are trying to move critical patients to Peshawar and other hospitals through helicopters,” he said while speaking to Geo News.
“Our utmost priority right now is to provide medical treatment to the injured. The blast site has been cordoned off. Pakistan Army and other institutions are assisting us in the operation,” Jamal added.
Separately, Bajaur District Health Officer Faisal Kamal said more than 150 injured people had been brought to the Bajaur District Headquarters Hospital while those in critical condition were being moved to the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar via an army helicopter.
A reporter, who was present at the blast site, said a local journalist was among those injured.
Television footage showed panic-stricken people gathering at the site following the blast as ambulances arrived to move the injured to hospitals. Afterward, a large police contingent cordoned off the area.
