Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Hafiz Hamdullah was injured in a blast in Balochistan’s Mastung district on Thursday.
Mobile phone footage broadcast on television showed a bloodied Hamdullah being supported by two gunmen as he spoke.
Speaking to Geo News moments after the blast was reported, JUI-F spokesperson Aslam Ghauri said that Hamdullah was injured but not critically.
“He is okay. He is injured but the situation is not critical […] the gunmen and the others accompanying him also sustained minor injuries but they are okay. There is no serious issue at the moment.”
He said that Hamdullah and the others were travelling from Quetta to Kalat, adding that the incident occurred after they crossed Mastung.
“We still do not know if it was a suicide blast or a planted bomb,” he added. “According to the information I have received, Hamdullah sahib and two persons are injured. All are okay and the matter is not serious.”
Ghauri said that the injured had been shifted to a hospital in Quetta.
Mastung Assistant Commissioner Ataullah Memon told Dawn.com that 11 people had been injured in the incident so far, adding that they were shifted to Quetta for medical treatment.
Separately, Balochistan Interim Home Minister Zubair Jamali strongly condemned the incident and directed the relevant authorities to submit a report in this regard.
He stated directed the district administration to help the injured, while also praying for their swift recovery. He said that all possible resources would be utilised to eliminate terrorists.
Ex-president Asif Ali Zardari also condemned the incident and prayed for the injured. “Terrorists and facilitators involved in terrorism should be brought under the law,” he said.
While no group has taken responsibility for today’s blast, the JUI-F has been a target of the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP).
In the past, the ISKP has targeted several local leaders of the JUI-F in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur, suspecting them of having close ties with the Taliban administration in neighbouring Afghanistan.
