Pakistan: JUI district chief among 4 injured in blast in mosque

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [Pakistan], March 14 (ANI): A bomb exploded at a mosque in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's South Waziristan during Friday prayers, injuring Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) district chief Abdullah Nadeem and three others, Dawn reported, citing a police official.

District Police Officer Asif Bahader told Dawn that an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast occurred at 1:45 pm (local time) at Maulana Abdul Aziz Mosque on Azam Warsak Bypass Road, with the device planted in the mosque's pulpit.

"In the explosion, Abdullah Nadeem, the district chief of JUI, was seriously wounded," he said. "Three others, also belonging to the JUI, have sustained minor injuries."

The injured were identified as Rehmanullah, Mullah Noor, and Shah Behran, Dawn reported, quoting a statement issued by the police.

Bahader added that all injured individuals had been taken to the District Headquarters Hospital for immediate medical assistance.

"The police have also reached the site of the blast and are collecting evidence," he said. "Further investigation is underway."

Mosques, particularly during Friday prayers when large congregations gather, have been targeted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the past as well.

Last month, six people, including JUI-S leader Maulana Hamidul Haq Haqqani, were killed and 15 injured when a suicide blast ripped through the Darul Uloom Haqqania seminary in KP's Nowshera district.

On January 30, 2023, a blast inside a mosque shook Peshawar's Police Lines area, with officials saying that at least 59 people were killed and 157 were injured.

The explosion ripped through the mosque in Peshawar's Red Zone area where between 300 and 400 people -- mostly police officers -- had gathered for prayers. The suicide blast blew away the wall of the prayer hall and an inner roof, Dawn reported.

This toll rose to 101 two days later, the KP health department said in a statement.

In 2022, a powerful suicide blast ripped through the crowded Jamia Masjid Koocha Risaldar in the old city. The bomber first killed the police personnel deployed at the imambargah's main gate and then entered the premises to blow himself up inside the main hall, where a large number of worshippers were offering Friday prayers. (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)