31st July, 2023
Pakistani investigators on Monday pointed the finger at the extremist Islamic State group as the death toll from a suicide bombing at a political rally climbed to 46, officials said.
A suicide bomber blew himself up among the crowd at the rally of an Islamic political party on Sunday in Bajaur, a mountainous area near the Afghan border that was once controlled by the Pakistani Taliban.
About 40 people died on Sunday and more than 150 were wounded.
Six more victims succumbed to their injuries at hospitals overnight, bringing the death toll to 46, rescue official Bilal Faizi said.
Out of more than 150, around 90 injured people were still being treated at hospitals in the north-western province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Faizi added.
Provincial police chief Akhtar Hayat Khan confirmed it was a suicide bombing and a DNA testing was being conducted to identify the bomber.
Three suspects were arrested overnight in a possible link with the bombing and were being interrogated by the intelligence and law-enforcement agencies, local police chief Nazir Khan said.
(dpa/NAN)