Bajaur:On Sunday, an explosion at a Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUIF) conference in the Khar tehsil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Bajaur district left at least 39 people dead and over 120 injured. In an interview, KP interim Information Minister Firoz Shah Jamal acknowledged the number of f atalities and injuries. On the other hand, AFP reported 39 fatalities. Hospitals in Bajaur and the surrounding areas, according to Jamal, have been placed on high alert. “We are utilising helicopters to transport critical patients to Peshawar and other hospitals.” “At this time, helping the injured receive medical attention is our first concern. There is a cordon around the explosion site. We are being helped in the operation by the Pakistan Army and other organisations,” Jamal added.
Meanwhile, Bajaur District Emergency Officer Saad Khan told media that Maulana Ziaullah Jan, JUI-F amir in Khar tehsil, also passed away in the blast.
Separately, Bajaur District Health Officer Faisal Kamal said more than 150 injured people had been brought to the Bajaur District Headquarters Hospital while those in critical condition were being moved to the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) in Peshawar.
In a statement issued later in the day, KP Governor Haji Ghulam Ali said a helicopter had been sent to Bajaur for the transfer of injured people.
He also directed authorities to issue a high alert at the LRH in Peshawar and ensure the best medical treatment of injured persons.
Footage of the site showed panic-stricken people gathering following the blast as ambulances arrived to move the injured to hospitals. Afterwards, a large police contingent cordoned off the area.
Rahim Shah, a witness, told that more than 500 people were attending the convention when the blast occurred. “We were listening to a bayan when a powerful explosion knocked me unconscious,” he said.
Shah narrated that when he regained consciousness, there was blood everywhere. “People were screaming and even shots were fired,” he added.
JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, in a statement issued by the party’s media cell, expressed grief over the incident. He sought an inquiry into the attack from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the KP government.
“May Allah raise the ranks of martyrs,” Rehman said and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured.
He also appealed to JUI-F workers to immediately reach hospitals and provide blood donations.
Earlier, JUI-F leader Hafiz Hamdullah said he was supposed to attend the convention today but could not because of some personal commitments.
“I strongly condemn the blast and want to give a message to the people behind it that this is not jihad but terrorism,” the JUI-F leader said while speaking to media.
He asserted that today’s incident was an attack on humanity and Bajaur.
Hamdullah demanded that the blast should be probed, recalling that this was not the first that the JUI-F had been targetted. “This has happened before […] our workers have been targetted. We raised our voice over this in the Parliament but no action was taken.”
He also extended his condolences to grieving families and urged the provincial government to provide the best medical facilities to the injured.
In a statement on the PPP Media Cell, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari condemned the blast and extended condolences to the bereaved.
“The federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments should bring the patrons of terrorists to justice,” he said, stressing that terrorists and their planners should be eliminated.
