Bajaur blast: Terrorists stooped lower than lowest human values, says Mufti Taqi

• Bajaur attack death toll reaches 64, including children.
• Mufti Taqi Usmani says suicide attack details are gruesome.
• Mufti requests imams of mosques to pray for martyrs, affected families.

As the death toll of the deadly suicide bombing at a public gathering of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) in Bajaur continues to rise, grand Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani has condemned the vicious militant act, saying that the terrorists have stooped lower than the lowest human values.

A deadly blast ripped through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's district Bajaur, a former tribal area bordering Afghanistan, on Sunday when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the JUI-F gathering.

Banned outfit Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack that killed over 60 people, including children.

"The number of martyrs is constantly increasing. Most of them are scholars and the majority of them are children, which shows that the terrorists have stooped lower than the lowest human values," Usmani said in a condemnation message on Twitter.

He said that the details of the Bajaur suicide attack are gruesome as the number of casualties is continuously rising.

Mufti Usmani requested imams of the mosques to pray for the high ranks of martyrs and eradication of terrorism from the country in Friday sermons.

Commenting on the attack, journalist and researcher Zia Ur Rehman said that Sunday's suicide bombing was the first major attack in Bajaur, claimed by the Daesh operating in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces.

The militant organisation has previously led several major attacks in other parts of the country, killing hundreds, dating back to 2016, according to Rehman. It also included January 2022 suicide attack on a mosque in Peshawar in which 64 people lost their lives.

Pakistan has seen a steep rise in terrorist activities including several suicide bombings and gun attacks mostly targetting police and law enforcement agencies in the northwestern provinces, which resulted in hundreds of deaths and damage to properties.

At least 77 civilians and 37 security forces personnel lost their lives in terror attacks in July alone, marking a 15% rise in militant activities as per the latest data released by Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS).

The resurgence of militancy has been witnessed, particularly since the return of Taliban rule in neighbouring Afghanistan and the end of the ceasefire between Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Islamabad.

Meanwhile, cross-border militancy continues despite Islamabad's multiple reminders to Afghanistan for not living up to its commitment to ensuring that its soil is not used for terrorism in Pakistan.