Bomb blast at mosque in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa leaves senior cleric, 3 others injured

A powerful bomb blast struck a mosque in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, leaving a senior cleric and three others injured, sparking concerns over rising security threats in the region. The device, which exploded, was planted in the mosque's pulpit, according to initial investigation.

District Police Officer Asif Bahader has informed that an improvised explosive device (IED) was planted at Maulana Abdul Aziz Mosque in South Waziristan which exploded and injured Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) district chief Maulana Abdullah Nadeem and three others.

A rescue operation has been initiated and the area is being sweeped to ensure there are no other explosives lying around. The injured are being moved to a district hospital. “The police have also reached the site and are collecting evidence,” an official said.

“Further investigation is underway.”

The development has come just a day after 10 suicide bombers were killed near a military facility in South Waziristan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and two days after some militants from Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) hijacked a train in Balochistan and killed many security personnel.

After over 24 hours of operation by the security forces in Pakistan, all hostages were released and all militants were killed.

According to a report, the militants who were killed were members of Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTT. The group is an ally of the Taliban in Afghanistan and has been emboldened since the Afghan Taliban seized power there in 2021.

According to The Express Tribune, the suicide attackers first detonated their explosives at a checkpoint near Jandola Fort in South Waziristan's Upper Jandola area and opened fire. A suicide bomber also blew himself up in a vehicle near the FC camp, they said.