ISIS claims responsibility for Pakistan suicide bombing as toll rises to 54

The ISIS group on Monday claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing at a political rally in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Sunday, the group said in a statement on its Telegram account.

“A suicide attacker from the ISIS... detonated his explosive jacket in the middle of a crowd” in northwestern Pakistani town of Khar, the statement said.

Meanwhile, the death toll from a suicide blast has risen to 54, with almost half of the victims children, police said on Monday.

“The death toll has now reached 54,” Shaukat Abbas, a senior official with the counter-terrorism department, told AFP, adding that 23 victims were under the age of 18.

Anwar ul Haq, deputy commissioner for the district, confirmed the toll.