Ever since last summer, Pakistan has been fighting extremist groups operating in North Waziristan
A suicide bombing kills 7 in Pakistan. The perpetrator committed the suicide-attack at the offices of a lawmaker from the ruling party. Apart from the reported seven casualties, nine other people were also wounded in the attack. Some of the victims are said to be in critical condition.
Amjad Khosa was not present at his office during the attack, fortunately. It is unclear who has arranged for the attack and on behalf of what group the suicide bomber acted, as nobody has claimed responsibility as of this moment.
Khosa has immediately condemned the attack, labeling it as an act of terrorism. He further said that some of his closest friends were among the lives claimed by the plot against him.
Local journalist Saleem Buzdar, who has reported on the blast shortly after the attack, said that eyewitnesses saw a young man in his early twenties with long hair who came to Khosa’s office and remained hidden in a large group of people before blowing himself up.
Buzdar said that Khosa was in the capital city of Islamabad when the attack happened. Buzdar believes that if the lawmaker were present at his office during that time, the death toll could have been much higher, as many more people would have surely been present, especially if Buzdar was preparing a speech or political event.
District Police Officer Ghulam Mubashir Maiken said that the attack was entirely unexpected as no death threat has been issue to Khosa from any terrorist organization.
This is another deadly tragedy in a series of attacks that have troubled Pakistan lately. Merely two months ago, two suicide bombers carried out a plot against Shuja Khanzada who has actively campaigned in favor of more operations against the Taliban. Khanzada was killed in the attack, along with 17 other innocent people caught in the circumstances.
The country has been marked by turmoil recently, with many more attacks committed recently either against high political figures or innocent civilians. Al-Qaeda-linked groups and jihadists have carried out deadly suicide-bombings against Pakistan for the better part of the last decade, killing tens of thousands of people during this time.
Since last summer in particular, the country has been battling radical militants in the troubled North Waziristan region, on the Afghan border. This is one area of operation for Taliban extremists, which has determined the US and other partners to carry out their own airstrikes in the region.
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