Bomber kills 31 at Pakistan mosque as India denies role

An attacker opened fire on the door of a Shiite Muslim mosque in Islamabad, then detonated a suicide bomb, killing at least 31 people in the deadliest attack of its kind in Pakistan’s capital in more than a decade.

More than 170 people were injured in the explosion, which occurred after guards challenged the attacker as he advanced towards the Khadija Tul Kubra Imambargah compound on the outskirts of the city, authorities said.

Images taken from the area show broken glass, rubble and the bloody bodies of panicked worshipers lying on the carpeted mosque floor.

Dozens more injured lay in the gardens of the complex as people called for help.

Survivors said they heard gunshots and seconds later, prayers began after the explosion.

Defense Minister Khawaja Asif wrote to X that the man “blown himself up in the last row of worshipers.”

He said the bomber had traveled to Afghanistan in the past and accused neighboring India of sponsoring the attack, without providing evidence.

India’s foreign office condemned the attack and called Pakistan’s statement “baseless”.

“It is unfortunate that instead of seriously addressing the issues plaguing the social fabric of Pakistan, he has chosen to deceive himself by blaming others for the ills occurring in his own country,” he said in the statement.

In his statement, the UN spokesman said that United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack “in the strongest terms”.

At Islamabad’s largest public hospital, family members waited outside and in crowded corridors for news.

Sarfraz Shah, 46, said that he and his younger brother Manzar, 39, go to the mosque like every Friday.

Speaking at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences hospital, Shah said, “I heard the gunshots and was trying to understand what happened when there was a huge explosion.”

“He threw people here and there. There was smoke. Nobody knew what happened. Then there was blood everywhere.”

He added in tears that there was no trace of his brother anywhere, but when he came to the hospital, he learned that Manzar was among the dead.

The attack was the deadliest suicide attack in Islamabad in more than a decade, according to conflict monitor ACLED, which said it “carried the hallmarks of the Islamic State”.

Police officer Shahid Malik, who took part in transporting the injured and bodies to the hospital, said that what he witnessed was a nightmare.

“I’ve seen many crime scenes. But this one was scary, very scary.” He added that there were 600 to 700 people in the mosque.

Shiites, a minority in the predominantly Sunni Muslim country of 241 million, have been targets of sectarian violence in the past, including by the Islamic State group and the Sunni Islamist Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Although Pakistan has been the target of a growing wave of militants in the past few years, especially along the border with Afghanistan, bombings are rare in the heavily guarded capital.

Afghanistan’s foreign ministry condemned the attack.

Afghan officials have repeatedly denied accusations that they provide a safe haven for militants who carry out attacks in Pakistan.

Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Irfan Memon said in his statement, “A total of 31 people lost their lives. The number of injured people brought to hospitals increased to 169.” he said.

The capital was on high alert for Uzbekistan’s visiting president Shavkat Mirziyoyev on Friday; The roads around the capital were closed by checkpoints and security forces deployed throughout the city.