Bomb rips through mosque during prayer in NW Pakistan, injuring 4: Report

ISTANBUL

A bomb exploded in northwestern Pakistan during Friday prayers, injuring four people, with one of them seriously wounded, according to local media reports.

The improvised explosive device blast in South Waziristan injured four people, including Abdullah Nadeem, district chief of the country's mainstream religious party Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), the daily Dawn reported.

“In the explosion, Abdullah Nadeem, the district chief of JUI, was seriously wounded,” the district police officer, Asif Bahader, said, adding: “Three others, also belonging to the JUI, have sustained minor injuries.”

The bomb was reportedly planted into the mosque’s pulpit and the blast occurred at 1.45 p.m. local time (1045GMT).

Bahader confirmed that all the injured were taken to the hospital, and authorities are investigating the incident.