At least 35 people have been killed in an explosion in Pakistan during a rally organised by an Islamist party.

At least 200 people were also injured in the explosion in north-west Bajaur district, where Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) was holding a meeting.

Police told the BBC that they have found evidence suggesting the explosion was a possible suicide attack.

Security forces have cordoned off the area and have warned the death toll is likely to rise further.

A rescue operation to assist the injured is ongoing and the motivation behind the possible terrorist attack is not yet clear.

Hundreds of people were attending the JUI-F workers’ convention in the town of Khar, in the Pakistani tribal district of Bajaur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, near the border with Afghanistan.

Images being broadcast on local TV show ambulances ferrying injured people to hospital, and some are being taken by helicopter to nearby Peshawar for treatment.

Authorities have declared a health emergency at the district hospital.

Some badly injured people have been waiting in the hallways of health clinics struggling to cope with the high number of casualties.

A regional leader of the JUI-F, Maulana Ziaullah, was killed in the blast, local officials have said.

JUI-F is a major religious political party and forms part of the government coalition in Pakistan’s parliament.

The party’s leader, Fazal-ur-Rehman, has demanded that Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif launch an inquiry into the explosion.

The political gathering was an opportunity for the JUI-F to rally its support, ahead of an election expected to take place later this year.

BBC/Simeon Ugbodovon

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