A suicide bomber has struck the convoy of an Islamic party in southwestern Pakistan, killing at least 25 people and wounding more than 40 others. Most of the victims were activists with the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), a religious-based political party.
Police said Friday's attack occurred in Mastung, about 50 kilometers from the provincial capital, Quetta. The blast apparently was targeted at Abdul Ghaforr Haideri, the deputy chairman of the Pakistani Senate, the upper house of parliament.
Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the deadly bombing.
Mastung, Pakistan
The senator was slightly wounded but his driver and the director of staff at the Senate accompanying him both were killed, officials confirmed.
Haideri is a central leader of JUI-F, which is part of Pakistan’s ruling coalition headed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's party.
The cleric told reporters he was returning from a graduation ceremony at a religious seminary when their convoy was struck.
"It was all very sudden. I am injured but alive. God has saved my life. Broken pieces of the windscreen hit me. My driver and other people sitting next to me were very badly injured," Haideri said.
WATCH: Pakistan Reels From IS-claimed Suicide Attack
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Pakistan Reels From IS-claimed Suicide Attack
Police and witnesses said the bomber was on a motorbike and that his body parts were retrieved from the site in the province of Baluchistan. It's the largest of four provinces where a number of militant groups operate.
IS has stepped up attacks lately in Pakistan. The Syria-based terrorist group also took credit for the suicide bombing of a Sufi shrine in the southern city of Sehwan in February that killed more than 70 people. Victims were mostly members of the minority Shi'ite Muslim community.
Baluchistan borders Afghanistan and Iran, and officials in both the countries have long alleged militants waging terrorist attacks on their soils operate out of the Pakistani province. Islamabad denies the charges.