At least five people have been killed, while 20 others have been injured in a blast inside a madrasa in Pakistan, the Dawn reported.
The powerful blast, which ripped though Madrassa-e-Haqqania, Akora Khattak, in Nowshera district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, comes a day ahead of Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar.
Local officials told the Dawn that at least 20 people have been injured and admitted to hospitals. The blast occurred during Friday prayers in the main hall of the madrasa.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah confirmed the death of caretaker of the madrassa and Chief of Jamiat Ulema Islam (Sami Group) Hamidul Haq Haqqani in the blast. Maulana Hamidul Haq Haqqani, a politician and Islamic scholar, is the chief of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Sami).
“We had provided six security guards to Hamidul Haq,” he said. An emergency has been declared in both Nowshera and Peshawar hospitals.
DPO Nowshera district Abdur Rasheed said the blast occurred during the Friday prayer. Rescue teams rushed to the site and evacuated the bodies and injured to the hospital.
A doctor in Qazi Hussain Medical Complex said at least 20 injured and five bodies were brought to the hospital. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and Governor Faisal Karim Kundi have condemned the suicide blast. JUIF leaders have appealed for blood donation for the injured.