Tragedy descended upon the Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) convention in Bajaur district’s Khar tehsil, Pakistan, as a blast ripped through the gathering, leaving at least 20 dead and over 50 injured. The news of this appalling incident was confirmed by Bajaur District Emergency Officer Saad Khan. The blast also claimed the life of Maulana Ziaullah Jan, a key JUI-F figure in Khar.

The immediate aftermath saw the transfer of the injured to Peshawar and Timergera hospitals. Among the injured was a local journalist present at the scene of the blast. In response to the explosion, a frenzy of panic erupted at the site, with terrified onlookers scrambling to evacuate the area as emergency services rushed in.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman, JUI-F’s chief, expressed deep sorrow over the catastrophe, urging Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to probe into the attack. JUI-F leader Hafiz Hamdullah, who was to attend the convention but couldn’t due to personal reasons, lambasted the incident as a blatant act of terrorism, not jihad.

While Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and former president Asif Ali Zardari called for justice against terrorist sponsors, Jamaat-e-Islami Senator Mushtaq Ahmed expressed his grievance over the government’s failing security plan. They all unanimously agree that it’s time for the country to cleanse itself of the nurseries of terrorism. As Pakistan mourns, the search for answers and justice intensifies.

  Asif Ali Zardari, Bajaur, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Hafiz Hamdullah, Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl, JUI-F, Khar tehsil, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Maulana Ziaullah Jan, Mushtaq Ahmed, Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif