Sunday’s suicide bombing happened in one of seven districts on the border with Afghanistan that were once a major focus in the global war on terror. As Pakistan prepares to hold an election, many analysts warn the terror threat is likely to rise.
No one has yet said they carried out Sunday’s devastating blast at a political rally in Pakistan, but the country’s Islamic State (IS) group has claimed to be behind several attacks in the area this year.
The latest atrocity – which has left at least 40 people dead – happened on the outskirts of Khar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajour district in northwestern Pakistan.
The suicide bombing took place at a rally organised by supporters of the Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl party, which IS has accused of hypocrisy for being a religious Islamic group that has supported successive governments and the military.