PESHAWAR – The responsibility for the Peshawar suicide blast that left at least 20 people dead besides injuring over 62 has been claimed by the Pakistan faction of outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban.
The central spokesperson for the militant group, Muhammad Khorasani, released a message to media revealing the name of the suicide bomber as Abdul Kareem, taking the onus of the attack that has marred the electioneering, especially in the war-battered Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The senior leader of Awami national party, Haroon Bilour, was the main target of the attack at the corner meeting of the party which was convened at the Yaka Toot area of Peshawar on Tuesday.
Bilour was busy in his election campaign for PK-78 when the suicide bomber ripped through the gathering; the Election Commission of Pakistan has postponed the elections for the said constituency.
According to the spokesperson of Lady Reading hospital, Zulfikar Ali, as many as 62 people were left injured in the attack, that sent shock waves across the country. He added that initially 47 wounded persons were brought to the hospital.
The Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) confirmed that it was a suicide blast.
Confirming Haroon Bilour’s death, the spokesman said that Haroon’s son, Danial Bilour, was safe.
Haroon was the son of Bashir Ahmed Bilour, a senior ANP figure who was himself was martyred in a suicide blast in Peshawar in 2012.
The party has decried the attack and has announced that it would announce the future policy very soon.
