- Forty-five people have died after a suicide bombing at a political rally in Pakistan
- No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but it is suspected that Islamic State was behind it.
- The blast comes as Pakistan prepares for general elections later this year.
The death toll from a massive suicide bombing that targeted an election rally for a pro-Taliban Muslim leader has risen to 54, as Pakistan held funerals and the government promised to hunt down those behind the attack.
The attack, which happened on Sunday, left more than 100 others wounded.
The blast has compounded fears of unrest ahead of a general election due later in the year.
The bomber attacked the gathering of the conservative Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) party, which is allied with the government and known for its links to hardline Islamists, in the Bajaur district on Sunday in the northwest, near the border with Afghanistan.
No group has claimed responsibility.
Pakistani media said there were some 400 people in the tent at the time of the explosion, and that multiple emergency crews were working the scene.
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Images from the blast site circulating on social media showed bodies strewn around, and volunteers helping blood-soaked victims to ambulances.
Of more than 130 wounded people, 61 were under treatment, said government health adviser Riaz Anwar.
Victims of the bombing were buried in Bajaur on Monday.
A police counter-terrorism wing investigating the blast suspected the Islamic State group was behind it, police said in a statement.
Pakistan has seen a resurgence of attacks by Islamist militants since last year when a ceasefire between the Pakistani Taliban, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and the government broke down.
A mosque bombing in Peshawar city in the northwest killed more than 100 people in January but attacks on political parties are rare.
While the TTP and associated groups have been behind most of the attacks in recent months, the group distanced itself from Sunday’s attack with a spokesperson condemning it.
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The JUI-F is an ally of the coalition government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif who denounced the blast as an attack on the democratic process.
Prospects for the general election, due by November, have already been clouded by months of rivalry between main parties and accusations of military involvement in civilian politics. The military denies that.
*Editor’s note: This story has been updated with the latest death toll from the bombing.
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