Peshawar, Jan 23: At least five people were killed and ten injured in a suicide blast during wedding celebrations at the residence of a peace committee member in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Friday night.
District Police Officer Dera Ismail Khan district, Sajjad Ahmed Sahibzada, confirmed that it was a suicide bombing that occurred during a wedding celebration at the residence of the peace committee chief Noor Alam Mehsud near Qureshi morr.
The guests were reportedly dancing when the attack happened. The blast caused the room’s roof to collapse, hampering rescue operations and making it difficult to reach those trapped under the debris.
An emergency had been declared at the District Headquarter Hospital.
In a statement, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rescue 1122 spokesperson Bilal Ahmed Faizi said five bodies and 10 injured had been taken to the hospital.
He said that seven ambulances, a fire vehicle and a disaster vehicle reached the site of the incident soon after it was reported, adding that a rescue operation was underway.
Authorities cordoned off the area and launched an investigation into the incident. Initial reports said peace committee leader Waheedullah Mehsud, alias Jigri Mehsud, was among the dead.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi strongly condemned the blast and sought a report from the KP inspector general of police.
He said that those responsible would be brought to justice.
Earlier this month, armed assailants had killed four members of a peace committee in KP’s Bannu district.
In November 2025, seven people were killed when a peace committee office was attacked, also in KP’s Bannu district.
Police officials said that among those killed was a ‘good Talib’, a term used to refer to a former militant who has surrendered to the state, and the rest were his relatives. (PTI)
