DID Press: At least five people were killed and 10 others injured in a suicide attack during a wedding ceremony near Qureshi Mor in Dera Ismail Khan, northwestern Pakistan, local officials said on Saturday.
The attack took place on Friday evening at the residence of Noor Alam Mehsud, head of a local peace committee, while guests were dancing, according to Sajjad Ahmad Sahibzada, the district police chief of Dera Ismail Khan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. He confirmed the blast was a suicide attack and said an emergency was immediately declared at the district’s main hospital.
The force of the explosion caused the roof of the room hosting the ceremony to collapse, complicating rescue operations and access to people trapped under the debris.
Bilal Ahmad Faizi, spokesperson for the provincial emergency service Rescue 1122, said the bodies of five victims and 10 injured people had been transferred to hospital, adding that rescue operations were ongoing.
Preliminary reports said Wahidullah Mehsud, also known as “Jigari Mehsud,” a senior member of the peace committee, was among those killed.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi strongly condemned the attack and ordered the provincial police chief to submit an immediate report. He also instructed security agencies to identify those responsible and take legal action against them.