“A total of 31 people have lost their lives.
“The number of wounded brought to hospitals has risen to 169,” says Islamabad’s deputy commissioner Irfan Memon in a statement.
Twenty-five ambulances sent to Islamabad – Punjab chief minister
The chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab region, which borders Islamabad, has said 25 ambulances have been sent to Islamabad to help people affected by the blast.
In a post on X, Maryam Nawaz Sharif says all hospitals across the Rawalpindi District, which lies in the northernmost part of the Punjab province, have been put on high alert.
She says specialist surgical teams are on standby.
Explosion happened as people gathered for Friday prayers
The explosion happened at the time when a large number of people had gathered for Friday prayers at Khadijatul Kubra Mosque, located in the Tarlai Kalan area of the Pakistani capital Islamabad.
Police officials said it was a suicide attack.
The bomber is said to have detonated the explosives when he was stopped at the entrance of the mosque.
Police and security personnel have cordoned off the area while investigators are gathering evidence from the site.
An emergency has been imposed at major hospitals in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
Witness describes gunfight near mosque before explosion
An eyewitness tells me that two attackers approached the entrance of the mosque where six guards were present and three had weapons with them.
The witness says the attackers opened fire at the guards – two guards with weapons fell while the third one retaliated.
The eyewitness continues by saying one attacker fled the location while the other managed to get through.
He only managed to go through the gate when he got hit by a bullet, and as he was falling to the ground he detonated his suicide vest, the witness adds.
The police have not yet shared any details about a gunfight.
Sound of bullets as prayers started – witness
Another eyewitness, Zaheer Abbas – who was injured during the attack – tells me that prayers had just started when he heard the sound of bullets being fired.
He says after people bowed for prayer, there was an explosion. He then saw injured people lying everywhere.
Abbas adds that he then became disorientated. He continues by saying shortly afterwards the police and rescue personnel arrived, pulling him out and taking him to the hospital.
Abbas says he fortunately was not badly injured.
Blast took place amid talk of military operation
The blast happened at a time when there is a talk of a military operation in Tirah Valley in Pakistan’s restive Afghan border region.
Thousands of families have recently migrated from the valley to safer locations although, Pakistan government has not officially confirmed the operation.
Pakistan recently witnessed a major co-ordinated militant attack at multiple locations in the province of Balochistan, where security forces on Thursday said they killed more than 200 militants.
In November last year, a suicide attack targeting district courts in Islamabad killed 12 people.
Uzbekistan’s president is also visiting Islamabad. The site of the blast is not too far away from the Pakistani capital’s red zone area that houses important government buildings.
Last year was the deadliest year in over a decade, as combat-related deaths surged 74%, with militants accounting for more than half the death toll, according to a new report released by an independent think tank.
Pakistan’s prime minister calls for thorough investigation
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has also strongly condemned the blast in Islamabad.
In a statement posted on the Pakistan government’s X account, Sharif expresses his deep sorrow and grief, and shares his sympathy with families affected.
The prime minister calls for a thorough investigation into the incident and says the people responsible for the incident should be identified immediately.
Security forces at site of attack
The latest photos from the scene show security forces being stationed at the site.
Pakistan’s defence minister says attacker went back and forth from Afghanistan
In a post on X, Pakistan’s defence minister says the attacker involved in today’s explosion at a Shia mosque in the capital “has been proven to have been coming and going from Afghanistan”.
In the same post he accuses India of using proxies against Pakistan.
The minister does not provide evidence or further details connecting today’s attack to either country. The police investigation is still ongoing into the explosion.
Relations between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban have rapidly deteriorated since the autumn last year.
Pakistan accuses the Taliban government of harbouring militant groups which then attack Pakistan, a claim the Taliban government publicly refute.
Pakistan has sent over one million Afghan nationals to Afghanistan in the past year according to the UN Refugee Agency figures, and the border between the two countries is closed.
Afghanistan ‘strongly condemns’ blast
A spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Taliban-run foreign ministry has said it “strongly condemns” the blast at a Shia mosque in Pakistan’s capital today.
Spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi says on X that the government considers such attacks acts against Islamic and human values.
It offers its “deepest condolences to the families of the victims” and “swift healing” for the wounded.
SOURCE: BBC
