Death Toll From Peshawar Imambargah Blast Rises To 63 As Father, Son Succumb To Wounds

Death Toll From Peshawar Imambargah Blast Rises To 63 As Father, Son Succumb To Wounds
Another victim of the suicide bombing at the Imambargah in Peshawar has succumbed to his injuries, bringing the death toll from the terrorist attack to 63.

Aqiq Hussain Bangash was attending the Imambargah for Friday prayers with his nine-year-old son, Faheem Abbas.  The nine-year-old died in the bombing, while his father, Aqiq, sustained critical injuries and had been undergoing treatment at Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar.

The father and son hailed from Parachinar in the Kurram tribal district. Their deaths bring the total number of casualties from Parachinar to 14, with another 30 injured.

Aqiq was laid to rest next to his son in their ancestral graveyard.

MNA Sajid Turi from Parachinar said that the government had failed to fulfil their duty, with members of his constituency hit hard by economic woes and terrorism.

On Friday, a suicide bomb killed 63 worshippers at an Imambargah in Peshawar, at least seven of them reportedly children. Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the three perpetrators of the attack had been identified, while Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid said police and security forces were close to apprehending them.

Since the start of the year, a series of terrorist attacks have rocked the nation. Last year, Pakistan experienced a 56 per cent increase in violent, militant attacks from the year prior. At least 388 people died and another 600 were wounded in terrorist attacks in Pakistan in 2021, according to Islamabad-based think tank Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS).