44 killed, 200 hurt in suicide blast at Islamist party meet in Pakistan

New Delhi, July 30

A suicide bombing took place today at a workers’ convention of a Pakistani Islamist party on the border with Afghanistan, killing at least 44.

The bombing occurred at Bajaur, which was once part of the restive Federally Administrative Tribal Areas where the Pakistan army had battled a bloody insurgency by a medley of groups, including the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and the Al-Qaida. The first investigation indicated that the attack was a suicide bombing, said Inspector General of Police of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Akhtar Hayat Khan. Among those killed was Amir Maulana Ziaullah, local chairman of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), which was holding the convention. Known as the progenitor of the Taliban, potential fighters trained in thousands of JUI-F’s madrasas before making their way to Afghanistan. Indian investigators have found that the JUI-F also funnelled madrasa students as cadres for the terrorist groups Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and Jaish-e-Mohammad, which had carried out terrorist strikes in India.

JUI-F leader among dead

• Among those killed was Amir Maulana Ziaullah, local chairman of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), which was holding the convention
• Known as the progenitor of the Taliban, potential fighters trained at thousands of JUI-F’s madrasas before making their way to Afghanistan

Over 200 persons were also injured when the suicide bomber struck midway during a JUI-F leader’s speech. The toll is likely to go up as the injured were being transported through mountainous terrain to hospitals over 100 km away in Peshawar and Timergara, the capital of Lower Dir.

Significantly, chief of JUI-F Fazlur Rehman is the president of the Pakistan Democratic Movement, a broad coalition of political parties which had allegedly joined hands with the Pakistan army to oust Imran Khan from the PM’s post through a no-confidence motion in 2022. His alliance partners PM Shehbaz Sharif and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari expressed condolences. JUI-F leaders Abdul Rasheed and Maulana Jamaluddin (both parliamentarians) were reportedly present at the convention. Fazl appealed to JUI workers to remain peaceful and urged Sharif to order an investigation into the incident.

JUI-F’s ideological rival and Jamaat-e-Islami leader Ameer Sirajul Haq condemned the blast and said the intention was to spread chaos in Pakistan.