PESHAWAR: A blast tore through a mosque on Friday in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) South Waziristan, police said, injuring a leader of the Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and three others, including children.

Abdullah Nadeem, a local leader of the Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) political party, was believed to be the target of the blast and had been hospitalised with serious injures, said Asif Bahadar, a district police chief in South Waziristan. He said two children were among the injured.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the explosion.

Attacks have been escalating in Pakistan’s border regions with Afghanistan in recent months.

Last month, a suicide bomber killed six worshippers during Friday prayers at an Islamic seminary in northwestern Pakistan, known as a historic training ground for the Afghan Taliban.

At least four killed, two injured in roadside blast in Khuzdar

This week in southwestern Balochistan, terrorists hijacked a train and held passengers hostage in a day-long standoff with security forces.

Pakistan has vowed to crack down on growing militancy and has said the militants are finding safe haven in neighbouring Afghanistan, a charge the ruling Afghan Taliban deny.