LONDON- Daesh extremist group has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed 54 people in Pakistan, as the country battles a rising tide of militant attacks, the Guardian newspaper reported on Monday.
The bombing took place at a rally for a pro-Taliban party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province bordering Afghanistan that has faced a rapidly declining security situation due to attacks from militant groups including the Pakistan Taliban and Islamic State’s regional affiliate.
More than 1,000 people were at the rally for Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), an ultra-conservative Islamist party that is part of the ruling coalition and known for its close ties to the Taliban in Afghanistan, and several regional party leaders were killed.
Doctors at local hospitals said they were unable to deal with the scale of the approximately 200 injured, and dozens had to be taken in helicopters to other provinces for treatment.
Authorities had indicated that the extremist group Daesh in Khorasan province was behind Sunday’s attack.
The group has been behind several recent deadly attacks targeting clerics, diplomats and schools in Afghanistan.
The bombing was the latest violent incident in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a region that in recent months has been subjected to near weekly militant attacks.
A US state department report in March warned that the Taliban and Daesh were growing in presence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
