Suicide bombing in Islamabad kills 12, says Pakistan’s interior minister

The country’s interior minister said 12 people were killed and at least 27 were injured in a suicide attack outside a court in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad.

Mohsin Naqvi said a bomber planned to attack the district courthouse but could not get inside.

Naqvi said authorities would prioritize identifying the bomber and those involved would be brought to justice.

Suicide explosions in Islamabad have been rare in recent years. Footage from the scene on Tuesday showed the burnt remains of a car and a police cordon in place.

Naqvi said that 27 injured people were treated.

He added that the attacker waited for about 15 minutes and then detonated the bomb near the police car.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said he “strongly condemns the suicide attack.”

Meanwhile, a lawyer who said he parked his car outside the court building at the time said he heard a “loud explosion”.

Rustam Malik told the AFP news agency there was “complete chaos”.

“Lawyers and people were running around the complex,” he added. “I saw two bodies lying at the door and several cars burned.”