Death toll from Bajaur blast rises to 54

KHAR: The death toll from the suicide attack, which occurred at the workers convention of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUIF) in Bajaur tribal district the previous day, has risen to 54, with almost half of the victims children, police said Monday.

“The death toll has now reached 54,” Shaukat Abbas, a senior official with the counter-terrorism department, said adding that 23 victims were under the age of 18. Anwarul Haq, deputy commissioner for the district, confirmed the toll. On Monday two more people succumbed to their injuries.

In Bajaur, the atmosphere was gloomy and bazaars remained closed to mourn the deaths. The deceased were laid to rest in their ancestral graveyards following well-attended funeral prayers held in various parts of district amid touching scenes.

“I was confronted with a devastating sight -- lifeless bodies scattered on the ground while people cried out for help,” Fazal Aman, who was near the tent when the bomb went off, said. On Monday, blood-stained shoes and prayer caps littered the site, along with ball bearings and steel bolts from the suicide vest.

Pieces of human flesh could still be seen, blasted 30 metres (100 feet) from the stage where the bomber detonated his device. Thousands of mourners attended the first funeral ceremonies, including for two young cousins aged 16 and 17.

“It was not easy for us to lift two coffins. This tragedy has shattered our family,” said Najib Ullah, the brother of one of the boys. “Our women are profoundly shocked and devastated. When I see the mothers of the victims, I find myself losing my own courage.”

On Sunday, the JUIF was holding a convention of its workers at Shandai Morr in Khar town when a suicide attack took place, leaving over 40 people dead on the spot.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa caretaker Chief Minister Azam Khan, Peshawar Corps Commander Lt-Gen Hassan Azhar Hayat, Inspector General of Frontier Corps, Jamaat-e-Islami head Sirajul Haq and others visited Bajaur to inquire after the health of the injured at the District Headquarters Hospital in Khar.

Members of the caretaker KP cabinet, including Matiullah Marwat, Dr Riaz Anwar, KP Chief Secretary Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry and Inspector General of Police Akhtar Hayat Khan also accompanied the chief minister.

Speaking at a gathering in the Civil Colony in Khar, caretaker Chief Minister Azam Khan said that he was personally supervising treatment to those injured in the blast. He said the provincial government shared the grief of bereaved families. Targeting innocent people was a heinous act, he added.

Assistant Commissioner, Khar, Mohibullah Yousafzai, told reporters that the administration had registered 46 martyrs and 89 injured. He said the injured were being provided the best medical facilities.

Shaukat Abbas, Additional Inspector General, Counter-Terrorism Department, said that the JUIF’s convention started at 2pm and the blast took place at around 4:10pm. He said ball-bearings were found at the spot of the blast, which was a suicide attack.

Claiming that the group behind the act of subversion had been identified, he said that there was a specific target of the bombing. Many pieces of evidence had been collected from the site. The official said the police had identified the terrorists during preliminary investigations, adding that they were now waiting for the forensic report.

District Police Officer of Bajaur, Nazir Khan, said the police had arrested three suspects after the bombing. Meanwhile, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the Monday’s blast. “A suicide attacker from the Islamic State... detonated his explosive jacket in the middle of a crowd” in Khar, the jihadist group’s news arm Amaq said in a statement Monday. Last year, IS said it was behind attacks against religious scholars affiliated with JUI-F, which has a huge network of mosques and schools in the north and west of the country. The jihadist group accuses the JUI-F of hypocrisy for being a religious party while supporting secular governments and the military.

A spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell said the blast was “an attempt to weaken democracy”.

Our correspondent adds from Timergara: A five-year-old child, who had sustained injuries in the Bajaur blast, succumbed to his wounds at Chakdara on way to hospital in Peshawar, rescue officials said. They said Musa, 5, son of Noor Muhammad, breathed his last while he was being shifted to Peshawar for treatment. The volunteers of civil defence and locals of Timergara turned up at the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) to donate blood to the victims of the Bajaur blast. The rescue teams shifted more than 18 critically injured to the DHQ whereas five injured were shifted to Peshawar from Timergara.

Meanwhile, the Grand Imam of al-Azhar and Chairman of the Muslim Council of Elders, Sheikh Ahmed El Tayeb, has strongly condemned the Bajaur attack on Sunday that claimed the lives of 54 people.

In his condemnation, the Grand Imam of al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed El Tayeb, said Chairman of the Muslim Council of Elders slams the Bajaur explosion, terming it violative and contradictory to the teachings of all religons, holy books and Shariat.

El Tayeb called for a global struggle against this act of terrorism. He condoled with the families of victims and prayed for quick recovery of the injured.