IS claims responsibility for suicide bombing at rally that killed 54 in Pakistan

The so-called Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Pakistan that killed at least 54 people at a pro-Taliban cleric’s rally in one of the worst attacks in the country in recent years.

IS, known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, made the claim in a statement posted on its Amaq website.

The statement said the attack was part of the group’s continuing war against forms of democracy it deems to be against Islam.

Hours earlier, hundreds of mourners in the north-western town of Bajur carried caskets draped in colourful cloths to burial sites following the previous day’s attack at an election rally for a pro-Taliban cleric.

Officials said Sunday’s bombing killed 54 people, including at least five children, and wounded nearly 200.

The attack appeared to reflect divisions between Islamist groups, which have a strong presence in the district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan.

It targeted the Jamiat Ulema Islam party, which has ties to the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban.

At least 1,000 people were crowded into a tent near a market for the rally ahead of fall elections, according to police.