An attacker opened fire at the gates of a Shiite Muslim mosque in Islamabad on Friday before detonating a suicide bomb that killed at least 31 people in the deadliest assault of its kind in the capital in more than a decade.
An emergency was declared as hospitals began receiving the wounded, with authorities issuing urgent appeals for blood donations. Pakistan’s interior ministry said the attacker opened fire before detonating the device after being challenged by security guards at the mosque entrance.
Officials said more than 170 people were wounded after guards confronted the bomber as he tried to enter the Khadija Tul Kubra Imambargah compound on the city’s outskirts.
Images showed bodies on the carpeted floor, shattered glass across the hall and worshippers scrambling for help.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed “deep grief” over the attack and called for a thorough investigation and the swift identification of those responsible. President Asif Ali Zardari described the targeting of civilians as a “crime against humanity”.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif suggested India and Afghanistan were behind the attack, claiming the attacker had travelled to and from Afghanistan.
India’s foreign ministry rejected the allegations as “baseless”, condemned the attack and expressed condolences for the loss of life, according to an official statement.
Pakistan’s minister of state for interior Talal Chaudhry later said the suspect was not an Afghan citizen, according to local media.
The Islamic State group later claimed responsibility in a statement released through its media channels, identifying the alleged attacker as “Sayf Allah al-Ansari”. The claim could not be independently verified.
The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack in the “strongest terms”, calling for those responsible to be brought to justice.
According to conflict monitor ACLED, the blast was the deadliest suicide attack in Islamabad in more than a decade and bore the hallmarks of the Islamic State.
Shiites, a minority in Pakistan, have repeatedly been targeted by Islamic State and the Sunni Islamist group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. While bombings in the capital remain rare, officials have warned of rising militant activity along the Afghan border.
Afghanistan’s foreign ministry condemned the attack and reiterated that Kabul does not provide safe haven to militants.
Islamabad deputy commissioner Irfan Memon said the death toll stood at 31, with 169 wounded.
Islamabad was already under heightened security for the visit of Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, with checkpoints in place across the city.
Parliamentary affairs minister Tariq Fazal said authorities were providing “every possible help” to families, after visiting the injured at Polyclinic Hospital.
Earlier this week, coordinated attacks in Balochistan killed 58 civilians, with the Balochistan Liberation Army claiming responsibility. Pakistan’s military said it killed more than 200 militants in subsequent operations.
The military later said 216 militants were killed in retaliatory operations, while 24 militants linked to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan were killed earlier on Friday in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The previous major attack in Islamabad occurred on 11 November, when a suicide bomber killed 12 people and wounded 27 others. Authorities said the attacker was an Afghan national, though no group claimed responsibility.
Indian police detained more than 2,000 protesters in Delhi on Saturday as authorities blocked a planned demonstration calling for the resignation o...
A powerful explosion has been reported at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, raising fresh concerns over aviation security in Saudi Arabi...
At least 12 people, including three children, have been killed in a Russian attack on the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, a day after U.S. Presiden...
Leaders of countries from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have agreed to hold coordinated population censuses around 2030. They took the decision at the CIS Council of Heads of State meeting in Awaza, Turkmenistan on Friday, media reported.
A powerful explosion has been reported at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, raising fresh concerns over aviation security in Saudi Arabia as tensions across the region continue to escalate.
Britain and Israel have reached a temporary compromise over the future of the British Consulate General in East Jerusalem, easing a diplomatic dispute that had threatened to further strain relations between the two countries.
South African judge Navanethem “Navi” Pillay won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday “for her efforts to promote peace and international law,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee said.
The U.S. has imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday (9 October) escalating tensions with European allies and potentially targeting companies that provide services to the tribunal. The move came hours after former ICC judge Navi Pillay won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Indian police detained more than 2,000 protesters in Delhi on Saturday as authorities blocked a planned demonstration calling for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over disputed changes to voter lists.
At least 12 people, including three children, have been killed in a Russian attack on the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a deal to ease sanctions on Russian diesel.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has criticised U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to ease sanctions on Russian diesel exports, questioning why Moscow was granted an economic benefit without an apparent concession towards ending the war in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed surprise after Donald Trump mediated the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement in 2025, the U.S. President said at a rally in New York state on Friday.
The United Nations has condemned a sharp rise in attacks on civilians in Ukraine, reporting that more than 100 people were killed and at least 429 injured in a single week as Russian strikes hit residential areas, passenger buses and critical infrastructure.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment