Three people lost their lives after a suicide blast ripped through a wedding at a peace committee leader’s residence in Dera Ismail Khan, police said Friday evening.
Law enforcement officials said seven others, including the head of the Aman Committee, Noor Alam Mehsud, were injured in the blast, which occurred at his residence near Qureshi Mor.
According to the police, the blast took place while the marriage was going on, resulting in several people being injured. The injured were immediately taken to the hospital for medical treatment. Five have been transported to the DHQ Trauma Centre.
Police officials said the nature of the explosion is being determined. However, initial investigations suggest that the explosion appears to be a suicide attack. The bad guys also resorted to shooting after the bombing.
Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has strongly condemned the suicide blast and requested an immediate report from the provincial police chief.
He also directed the authorities concerned to provide the best medical facilities to the injured.
The chief minister called the incident “unfortunate” and said those responsible for the blast will be brought to justice.
Pakistan has seen an increase in cross-border terrorist incidents since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021. The provinces of KP and Balochistan, which border Afghanistan, have been particularly affected by these attacks.
ISPR Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said in his January 6 press release that law enforcement agencies conducted 75,175 IBOs across the country by 2025.
To give an overview, he said that 14,658 IBOs were conducted in KP, 58,778 in Balochistan, while 1,739 operations took place in the rest of the country.
Lt Gen Chaudhry said 5,397 terrorist incidents were reported nationwide during the past year. Of these, 3,811 incidents, he said, occurred in KP, 1,557 in Balochistan and 29 incidents were reported in other parts of the country.
He said 2,597 terrorists were killed during counter-terror operations last year. While giving details of 10 major terror attacks across the country, he said civilians and soft targets had been deliberately targeted and Afghan militants were involved in all attacks.
Pakistan has repeatedly called on the Afghan Taliban regime in Kabul to prevent its soil from being used by terrorists against Pakistan, and the issue recently resulted in heightened tensions with cross-border attacks from the Afghan side, which also resulted in retaliation by Pakistani forces.
This is a developing story and will be updated with additional details.
