Pakistan suicide bombing loss of life toll rises to 45

The loss of life toll in a suicide bombing at a political rally held by a non secular celebration rose to 45 on Monday, officers mentioned, an assault compounding fears of unrest forward of a normal election due later within the yr.

The bomber attacked the gathering of the conservative Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) celebration, which is allied with the federal government and identified for its hyperlinks to hardline Islamists, within the Bajaur district on Sunday within the northwest, close to the border with Afghanistan.

No group has claimed accountability.

An official at a state-run rescue company, Bilal Faizi, mentioned the loss of life toll had risen to 45.

Of greater than 130 wounded individuals, 61 have been beneath remedy, mentioned authorities well being adviser Riaz Anwar.

A police counter-terrorism wing investigating the blast suspected the Islamic State group was behind it, police mentioned in a press release.

Pakistan has seen a resurgence of assaults by Islamist militants since final yr when a ceasefire between the Pakistani Taliban, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and the federal government broke down.

A mosque bombing in Peshawar metropolis within the northwest killed greater than 100 individuals in January however assaults on political events are uncommon.

Whereas the TTP and related teams have been behind many of the assaults in current months, the group distanced itself from Sunday’s assault with a spokesman condemning it.

The JUI-F is an ally of the coalition authorities of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif who denounced the blast as an assault on the democratic course of.

Prospects for the final election, due by November, have already been clouded by months of rivalry between fundamental events and accusations of army involvement in civilian politics.

The army denies that.