An apparent suicide bombing at a Shia mosque in Islamabad killed at least 31 people and injured dozens of others, marking one of the deadliest attacks in Pakistan’s capital in recent years.
The blast struck the Khadija Tul Kubra mosque in the Tarlai Kalan area of southeastern Islamabad during Friday prayers.
A senior police official, speaking to Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity, said the explosion appeared to have been caused by a suicide attacker, though investigations were still underway.
“Our team is at the scene and we are working to confirm the cause,” the official was quoted as saying.
A security source told AFP that the attacker detonated explosives after being stopped at the mosque’s entrance gate.
According to the Islamabad administration, 169 people were taken to hospitals after rescue teams arrived at the site.
Videos circulating on social media and verified by Al Jazeera showed bloodied bodies inside the mosque, with shattered glass and debris scattered across the floor.
At the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences hospital, AFP reporters witnessed adults and children being brought in on stretchers or carried by relatives. Medics and bystanders rushed to unload victims from ambulances and private vehicles, many with clothes soaked in blood. At least one injured person was transported in the trunk of a car, while anguished relatives cried outside the heavily guarded emergency ward.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed “deep sorrow” over the attack in a statement.
Islamabad has witnessed similar attacks in the past. In November last year, a suicide bomber targeted the Islamabad District Judicial Complex, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens.
In September 2008, a bomber rammed an explosive-laden truck into the Marriott Hotel, killing at least 63 people and wounding more than 250.
