At least 39 people were killed and dozens were injured in a bomb explosion today, Sunday, in northeastern Pakistan, during a gathering of an extremist Islamic party, according to the Agency "Agence France Presse", quoting a local official.

Earlier today, Akhtar Hayat Gandapur, Inspector General of Police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, located on the border with Afghanistan, stated that "a senior party official was supposed to deliver a speech, but before his arrival, a bomb exploded," noting that 16 people were killed and 52 others were injured in the preliminary outcome..

He explained that the blast targeted the conservative party, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, which was organizing a rally in the town of Khar ahead of the elections to be held later this year.

The leader of the party, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, is a pro-Taliban cleric and his political party is part of the coalition government in Islamabad, but it is not known, according to the Associated Press, whether Fazlur Rahman was present or not at the gathering at the time of the explosion.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency