Taliban suicide bomber strikes Peshawar rally, 20 people killed

REVENGE ATTACK ANP leader Bilour among those dead, Taliban says blast retaliation for killing of their commander

the hospital and shouted slogans against the government for its failure to provide security to Bilour. The ANP, which ruled Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa from 2008 to 2013, has lost scores of workers and several senior leaders in a series of attacks by the Taliban.

The Taliban have also threatened to target secular political parties for supporting the “war on terror” and the military’s operations against terrorists in Pakistan’s tribal belt bordering Afghanistan.

Tuesday’s suicide bombing was the first major terror attack in the run up to the general elections scheduled for July 25.

Rescue teams and security officials shifted the dead and injured to Lady Reading Hospital. “We were able to tally the death toll in the morning as the bodies brought to the hospital by law enforcement agency personnel were moved by relatives without registration,” a hospital spokesperson told the media.

Strict security arrangements were put in place across Peshawar for Bilour’s funeral. A three-layer security plan, including bomb disposal units and sniffer dogs, was drawn up for his funeral procession and drones were used to monitor the situation. Following Bilour’s death, elections in his constituency were postponed on the orders of the Election Commission.

ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan told reporters that his party will observe three days of peaceful mourning but will participate in the elections, come what may. He expressed anger and anguish over the situation and said he has asked ANP workers to remain calm.