The blast in the country’s Bajur district killed 10 people and wounded 50, according to police.

A powerful bomb ripped through a rally by supporters of a hardline political and Muslim leader in the country’s northwestern Bajur district that borders Afghanistan on Sunday, killing 10 people and wounding more than 50, police said.

Senior police officer Nazir Khan said the workers’ convention of Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party was taking place on the outskirts of Khar, the capital of Bajur district, when the explosion took place.

He said some of the wounded were taken to the city’s main hospital in critical condition and the death toll could increase.

Akhtar Hayat Gandapur, the inspector general of police for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said explosion took place before the senior party leader’s arrival.

Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said the death toll was expected to keep rising.

He added that many of the wounded were transferred to Peshawar, the provincial capital located three hours from the site of the blast, due to the seriousness of their injuries.

Rehman is considered to be a pro-Taliban cleric and his political party is part of the coalition government in Islamabad.

Meetings are being organised across the country to mobilise supporters for the coming elections, due to be held by October.