Explosion at Khar cricket ground kills at least one, injures several

At least one person was killed and several others, including children, were injured on Saturday when an explosion ripped through Kausar Cricket Ground in Khar tehsil of Bajaur district in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said. The blast occurred as a local match was under way, sending panicked spectators and players fleeing the field, officials and local reports said.

Bajaur District Police Officer Waqas Rafique told reporters the device was an improvised explosive device and that the detonation appeared to be a targeted attack. "The blast was carried out through an IED," he said, adding that initial evidence suggested the incident was deliberate. Authorities said the wounded were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment; a district police public relations officer, Israr Khan, confirmed those injured were taken to the district headquarters hospital in Khar.

A video circulating on social media and cited by local outlets showed thick plumes of smoke rising from the ground and people running from the area in confusion, witnesses said. Local police described scenes of panic as spectators, some of them children, fled the stadium immediately after the explosion.