The death toll from a suicide bombing that targeted members of an anti-Taliban militia attending funeral prayers in northwest Pakistan has risen to 46, police said Saturday. The bomber blew himself up Thursday in the middle of mourners as they gathered for prayers on open ground in Jandol town in the district of Lower Dir, 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the once Taliban-infested Swat Valley.
“The death toll in the attack has now risen to 46 after six more people died of their wounds in different hospitals,” senior police official Salim Khan Marwat told AFP. He said 52 people were still being treated for injuries in hospital while six were in critical condition. Another senior police official, Akhtar Hayat Gandapur, confirmed the new toll. The blast came two days after four boys connected to another northwestern anti-militant group were killed in another explosion that was claimed by the Pakistani Taliban.
There was no claim of responsibility for Thursday’s attack. Bombings blamed on Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked networks have killed more than 4,630 people in Pakistan since 2007, destabilising the nuclear-armed state.
