At least four people, including a local Islamist party leader and children, died after a bomb blasted inside a mosque at a militancy activity area in South Waziristan in Pakistan. According to Pakistani officials, the attack targeted a local leader of the Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) political party, Abdullah Nadeem.

However, no group has taken responsibility for the attack yet. According to Asif Bahadar, a district police chief in South Waziristan, “Nadeem and two children were hospitalised with serious injuries.” Notably, attacks close to the Afghanistan border area escalated in the past few months.

Six worshippers were killed during Friday prayers in February when a suicide attacker set off a device at an Islamic seminary in north-west Pakistan. The Afghan Taliban have used the facility as a traditional training ground.

Earlier this week, on Tuesday, the Jaffar Express train was assaulted in the Bolan district, and more than 300 passengers were abducted and held hostage by Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) militants demanding the release of their imprisoned members.

Over 30 militants and 28 troops were killed during the operation, but security forces were able to liberate all 346 hostages. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed that they had slain 50 more hostages who had been kidnapped off the Peshawar-bound train.