The death toll rises to 54 in the suicide attack carried out in northern Pakistan on Sunday, which has been claimed by the Islamic State terrorist group. The target of the attack was the rally of a pro-Taliban cleric from the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) religious party.
“The death toll has reached 54, while around 80 wounded are receiving treatment in different hospitals,” said police chief Niaz Mohammed of Khar police station where the attack took place.
The attack was claimed on Monday by the Islamic State of Khorasan, the regional branch of the terrorist group, which according to the agent had already attacked JUI-F leaders and workers on multiple occasions in the past.
The police chief has indicated that investigators from the Anti-Terrorism Department (CTD) and other agencies are conducting an investigation of the site of the explosion, where they found various materials that were used to make the explosives.
“Some evidence has been collected from the scene suggesting that between ten and twelve kilograms of explosives were used,” Mohammed detailed.
In addition, it has indicated that three suspects had been arrested so far, of whom, however, they did not know their degree of involvement in the attack.
Taliban condemn attack
Several groups and institutions joined in condemning this attack, including the main Pakistani Taliban group, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The Afghan Taliban government, which shares ties to the JUI-F, also joined in condemning this attack, the fundamentalists' main spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said on Twitter.
The JUI-F is led by cleric and politician Fazlur Rehman, who escaped at least two known bomb attacks in 2011 and 2014.. Rehman is a strong supporter of the Afghan Taliban government.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for a suicide attack last March that killed ten people in southern Pakistan, including nine police officers.. In January he was the protagonist of one of the worst attacks against the security forces in this country, which resulted in a hundred deaths and more than 50 wounded.
Gun violence has grown since 2021
Pakistan has experienced an increase in armed violence since the Afghan Taliban came to power in Kabul in August 2021, which reignited attacks by its Pakistani ideological brethren, especially in the Afghan border provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
The country witnessed 271 militant attacks in the first half of the year, in which 389 people were killed and 656 others injured, according to a report published in early July by Pakistan's Institute for Security and Conflict Studies.
A significant increase in the figures compared to the same period in 2022, when Pakistan suffered 151 attacks that caused 293 deaths and 487 injuries.