The cause of the explosion has not yet been officially announced, but government officials are treating the incident as a suicide attack.
An attack that authorities suspect was carried out by a suicide bomber killed at least 31 people and injured 169 during Friday prayers at a Shi’ite Muslim mosque in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, authorities said.
The death toll makes this the deadliest attack in the country since the Peshawar mosque explosion in January 2023.
The strong explosion shook the building where prayers were taking place. “The explosion took place in a Shiite place of worship in the Tarlai area of Islamabad. We are still receiving information about its origin and the victims,” the Pakistani capital’s police spokesman, Taqi Jawad, told Efe.
Images broadcast on television and on social media show police and residents taking injured people to hospitals. Other images show bodies covered in blood on the floor of the mosque, surrounded by broken glass and debris. Many injured people were in the gardens around the mosque, in the semi-urban area of Khadija Tul Kubra Imambargah, on the outskirts of the city. Twenty-five ambulances were sent to the scene.
The cause of the explosion has not yet been officially disclosed, but government officials are treating the incident as a suicide attack. The President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, stressed that “targeting innocent civilians is a crime against humanity”. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he had ordered a thorough inquiry. “Those responsible must be identified and punished,” he says. Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned what he called an “attack” and called on authorities to ensure the best possible care for the victims.
The US embassy in Islamabad also condemned what it said was an “attack” and offered its condolences to all those affected. “The people of Pakistan deserve security, dignity and the possibility of practicing their faith without fear,” he said in a post on social media.
Internal investigations suggest that the Pakistani Taliban group, or Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was behind the attack, police sources tell CNN. So far, there have been no claims of liability.
The TTP is a militant Sunni Islamic group that considers Pakistan’s Shia minority to be heretics.
Pakistan has seen a rising wave of militancy in recent years, but attacks have been less frequent in the heavily fortified capital.
