2018 Mastung and Bannu bombings

2018 Mastung and Bannu bombings
Part of War in North-West Pakistan
Mastung Bannu Location of incidents shown in the map of Pakistan
Location	Mastung, Balochistan Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Coordinates	29°24′31″N 67°11′22″E / 29.4087°N 67.1894°E / 29.4087; 67.1894
Date	13 July 2018
Target	Nawabzada Siraj Raisani (Mastung) Akram Khan Durrani (Bannu)
Attack type	Suicide bombing, IED
Weapons	Explosive belt, IED
Deaths	154 total Mastung: 149 Bannu: 5
Injured	223 total Mastung: 186 Bannu: 37
Perpetrators	Mastung: Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Bannu: Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen
Assailants	Mastung: Abu Bakar al-Pakistani (as per ISIL) Hafiz Nawaz (as per LEAs)
Participant	Mastung: 1 suicide bomber
Motive	Derailment of 2018 Pakistani general election

On 13 July 2018, ahead of Pakistan's general election, two bombings took place at election rallies in Bannu and Mastung.

In Bannu, a remotely exploded bomb planted in a motorcycle left 5 people dead and 37 others wounded in an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Akram Khan Durrani. Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen, an extremist organization, claimed responsibility for the attack.

In Mastung, a suicide bomber blew himself up during a rally for the Balochistan Awami Party's Siraj Raisani, the brother of former Balochistan chief minister Aslam Raisani. One of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Pakistani history, it killed 149 people and wounded 186 others. Siraj was taken to hospital in critical condition and died of injuries. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for the event and named the suicide bomber as Abu Bakar al-Pakistani, though authorities identified him as Hafeez Nawaz of Abbottabad.^[1]