According to ARY News, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has strongly condemned the Bajaur Blast and assured that the perpetrators responsible for the deadly attack during a political convention in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district will be penalized. The blast resulted in at least 40 fatalities and left over 200 people injured. PM Sharif immediately ordered the arrest of the offenders and the use of helicopters to transfer critically injured patients to other hospitals.
In a tweet, he expressed his grief over the incident and emphasized that the attack on the political parties’ workers’ convention of Jamiat-e-Ulama-i-Islam (F) in Bajaur is a clear attempt to target the democratic system in Pakistan. He asserted that such cowardly tactics of the enemy will not succeed, and the entire nation, along with the law enforcement agencies, will not allow the democratic process to be disrupted. He further conveyed his condolences to the families of the martyred and assured that the perpetrators will be identified and punished.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan also sent his sympathies to the affected families and expressed deep sadness over the loss of 40 lives and injuries to 150 others in the Bajaur blast. He called for a reevaluation of national priorities, urging those in power to focus on counter-terrorism efforts and allocate state resources to combat the increasing wave of terrorism, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The suicide blast occurred while a Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) local leader was addressing the convention, resulting in the leader’s death and causing significant casualties. The Provincial police, as per initial investigations, suggest that the Islamic State group, which operates in Afghanistan and is an enemy of the Afghan Taliban, could be behind the attack. However, officers are still conducting further investigations to determine the exact responsible party.
The Pakistan Taliban (TTP) also issued a statement claiming that the bombing was intended to create divisions among Islamists. On the other hand, Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Afghan Taliban, condemned the crime on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), stating that such acts cannot be justified in any way.