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A6 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 1 augusT 2023
IS claims responsibility for the bombing that killed 54 in Pakistan

By ANWARULLAH KHAN and cipal town.
RIAZ KHAN Female relatives and chil-
Associated Press dren wailed and beat their
KHAR, Pakistan (AP) — An chests at family homes
Afghan branch of Islamic Monday as the dead were
State on Monday claimed taken for funerals, following
responsibility for a suicide local customs. Hundreds
bombing in Pakistan that of men followed the cas-
killed at least 54 people at kets to mosques and open
a pro-Taliban party’s elec- areas for special funeral
tion rally, in one of the re- prayers and then into the
gion’s worst attacks in re- hills for burial.
cent years. As condolences continued
Islamic State in Khorasan to pour in from across the
Province made the claim country, dozens of people
in a statement posted on who had lesser injuries were
its Amaq website. It said discharged from hospital,
the attacker detonated an while the critically wound-
explosive vest, and that the ed were taken to the pro-
bombing in the northwest- vincial capital of Peshawar
ern town of Bajur was part by army helicopters. The
of the group’s continuing death toll continued to rise
war against forms of de- Relatives and mourners carry the casket of a victim, who was killed in Sunday’s suicide bomber as some critically wounded
mocracy it deems to be attack in the Bajur district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, Monday, July 31, 2023. people died in hospital,
against Islam. Associated Press physician Gul Naseeb said.
Hours earlier, hundreds of Gul Akbar, the father of an
mourners in Bajur carried Jamiat Ulema Islam party minutes later ambulances group distanced itself from 11-year-old boy who was
caskets draped in color- has ties to the Afghan and arrived and began taking the attack. wounded in the attack, told
ful cloths to burial sites fol- Pakistani Taliban. the wounded away. The Pakistani military spent The Associated Press that
lowing the previous day’s At least 1,000 people were Police had suggested in years fighting the Pakistani his entire family was in a
attack at the election rally crowded into a tent near a their initial investigation Taliban, also known as Teh- state of shock after hearing
for the Jamiat Ulema Islam market for the rally ahead that Islamic State in Kho- reek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or about the bombing Sun-
party. Officials said Sun- of fall elections, according rasan Province was a sus- TTP, in Bajur before declar- day. He said he first went
day’s bombing killed 54 to police. pect. The group is based in ing the district clear of mili- to the scene of the attack,
people, including at least “People were chanting neighboring Afghanistan’s tants in 2016. But the Jamiat and later found his son Tas-
five children, and wound- God is Great as the lead- Nangarhar province and Ulema Islam party, headed lim Khan being treated in a
ed nearly 200. ers arrived,” said Khan Mo- is a rival of the Afghan Tal- by hard-line cleric and poli- hospital in Khar.
The attack appeared to hammad, a local resident iban and al-Qaida. tician Fazlur Rehman, has “What would I have done
reflect divisions between who said he was standing Pakistan security analyst remained a potent political if he had also been mar-
Islamist groups, which outside the tent, “and that Mahmood Shah also previ- force. tyred? Five children died
have a strong presence in was when I heard the deaf- ously had said that break- On Monday, police record- in this barbaric attack, and
the district in Khyber Pak- ening sound of the bomb.” away factions of the Paki- ed statements from some we want to know what our
htunkhwa province that Mohammad said he heard stani Taliban could be pos- of the wounded at a hospi- children did wrong,” he
borders Afghanistan. The people crying for help, and sible suspects, though the tal in Khar, the district’s prin- said. q

Discovery of a whale carcass in Hong Kong sparks anger

By KANIS LEUNG whale. But he said an initial back, in addition to two old a media briefing. “I think Eater.” The foundation had
Associated Press check of the dead whale wounds. it’s a good opportunity for released a statement last
HONG KONG (AP) — The found a new wound on its “It’s a pity,” Chan said at everyone to think seriously week saying that crowds
discovery of a whale car- about how we should get of people had been seen
cass in Hong Kong waters along with other species in approaching the animal,
Monday sparked an out- nature.” which was believed to be
pouring of grief on social The whale’s cause of death a Bryde’s whale of about
media, with many com- would have to be con- seven meters (23 feet)
ments blaming the mam- firmed by a necropsy, he long. The foundation said
mal’s death on sightseers. said. at the time that the whale
Many residents speculat- The carcass was in found had propeller wounds and
ed that the dead mam- in the waters in Sai Kung a that nearby human activ-
mal was the same whale district known for its hiking ity could cause it stress and
that had been attracting trails, beaches and islands. have life-threatening con-
groups of sightseers since it Many residents blamed sequences.
was first spotted in the city’s the death on sightseers The government said Mon-
waters in mid-July. who have flocked to those day night that the necrop-
Compass Chan, scien- waters since a whale was sy might take several days
tific officer of Ocean Park spotted there about two and that its results could
Conservation Foundation weeks ago. Some posted help shape future policy for
Hong Kong, didn’t confirm The carcass of a Bryde’s whale is seen in the waters of Hong a Canto-pop song whose how to deal with whales in
whether it was the same Kong, Monday, July 31, 2023. Associated Press title translates as “Whale Hong Kong waters.q