An Improvised Explosive Device (IED) exploded during Friday prayers in South Waziristan area of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, critically injuring a senior leader of religious political party Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) along with at least three more people.

As per police authorities, the blast took place in a mosque during Friday prayers at Maulana Abdul Aziz mosque, located at Azam Warsak Bypass Road, adding that the bomb was planted in the mosque’s pulpit.

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JUI-F head Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman had recently visited Darul Uloom Haqqania mosque in KP’s Akhora Khattak to condole and condemn the suicide blast that claimed life of at least six people, including Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Samiul Haq chief Hamidul Haq Haqqani, slamming militant groups for attacking mosques and killing innocent locals in the name of Jihad.

Friday’s blast is being seen as a reaction to Fazlur Rehman’s statement and it is suspected the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) is behind it.

“The blast occurred at 1:45 pm at Maulana Abdul Aziz Mosque on Azam Warsak Bypass Road. In the explosion, Abdullah Nadeem, the district chief of JUI, was seriously wounded. Three others, also belonging to JUI, have sustained minor injuries,” said District Police Officer Asif Bahader.

“The police have reached the site of the blast and are collecting evidence. Further investigation is underway,” he added.

It was also revealed that the target of the attack was Maulana Abdullah, who had been receiving death threats for some time.

“He (Maulana Abdullah) was also attacked about seven or eight months ago,” said Bahader.

Mosques have been on the target of militants, who have carried out multiple attacks in the past. Last month, a suicide bomber attacked Darul Uloom Haqqania killing at least six people, including a senior leader of JUI-F. During 2023, a blast inside a mosque in Police Lines area of Peshawar killed 59 people and injured 157.

The Friday prayers are targetted as large number of people gather to offer prayers, resulting in bigger number of casualties.

Friday’s attack took place after the hijacking of train in Balochistan earlier this week which saw separatist Baloch Liberation Army attacking Jaffar Express passenger train.

It took a 48-hour standoff between the security forces and the militants to conclude the operation, in which majority of the hostages were rescued and at least 33 BLA militants killed.

Pakistan’s Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces have seen a massive surge in terror attacks, which Islamabad claims have escalated since the Afghan Taliban came to power in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Pakistan claims that Afghanistan has become a safe haven for anti-Pakistan terror groups who are being provided with space, support and facilitation by the Afghan Taliban to carry out their activities across the border.

Pakistan has called on Afghanistan to make sure its soil is not used by anti-Pakistan groups and urged the Taliban regime to take immediate action against them.