Suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque on Islamabad’s outskirts kills not less than 31 : NPR

ISLAMABAD — A suicide bomber focused a Shiite mosque on the outskirts of Islamabad throughout Friday prayers, killing 31 individuals and wounding not less than 169 others, officers stated, a uncommon bombing in Pakistan’s capital as its Western-allied authorities struggles to rein in a surge in militant assaults throughout the nation.

Tv footage and social media photos confirmed police and residents transporting the wounded to close by hospitals. Among the wounded within the assault on the sprawling mosque of Khadija Al-Kubra had been reported to be in vital situation.

Rescuers and witnesses described a harrowing scene, with our bodies and wounded mendacity on the mosque’s carpeted ground. Hussain Shah stated he was praying within the mosque courtyard when he heard a sudden, loud explosion.

“I instantly thought that some huge assault had occurred,” he stated. He then went into the mosque to utter chaos — lots of the wounded had been screaming and crying out for assist. Shah stated he counted round 30 our bodies contained in the mosque, whereas the variety of the wounded seemed to be considerably increased.

Nobody instantly claimed accountability for the explosion, however suspicion is prone to fall on militants such because the Pakistani Taliban or the Islamic State group, which has been blamed for earlier assaults on Shiite worshippers, a minority within the nation. Militant teams throughout Pakistan usually goal safety forces and civilians.

A surge in militant assaults

Pakistani safety officers and rescue employee collect on the web site of a bomb explosion at a Shiite mosque, in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Anjum Naveed/AP/AP

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Anjum Naveed/AP/AP

Although assaults aren’t so frequent in Islamabad, Pakistan has seen a surge in militant violence in latest months, largely blamed on Baloch separatist teams and the Pakistani Taliban, often called Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, which is a separate group, however allied with Afghanistan’s Taliban. A regional affiliate of the Islamic State group has additionally been lively within the nation.

Within the preliminary aftermath of the explosion, a decrease variety of casualties was launched, however Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Irfan Memon gave the most recent tolls.

Pakistan’s Protection Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif wrote on X that preliminary findings recommend the suicide bomber had been on the transfer to and from Afghanistan. Asif stated the mosque’s safety guards tried to intercept the suspect, who opened fireplace at them after which detonated his explosives among the many worshippers.

The situation of the guards was not instantly identified. Pakistan usually accuses Afghanistan, the place the Taliban seized energy once more in August 2021 as American and NATO troops had been withdrawing after a 20-year struggle, of harboring militants and members of the Pakistani Taliban. Kabul denies the accusation.

Afghanistan’s Ministry of International Affairs issued an announcement Friday saying that the “Islamic Republic of Afghanistan condemns such assaults that violate the sanctity of sacred rituals and mosques and goal worshippers and harmless individuals.”

The assault additionally drew condemnation from the worldwide neighborhood, together with the United Sates and European Union. Condolences and condemnation additionally poured in from varied embassies in Islamabad.

Political and non secular leaders condemn the assault

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif prolonged condolences to the households of the victims in sperate statements and requested that every one potential medical help be offered for these wounded.

“Focusing on harmless civilians is against the law towards humanity,” Zardari stated. “The nation stands with the affected households on this tough time.”

“Those that are accountable have to be recognized and punished,” Sharif stated. Pakistan’s Inside Minister Mohsin Naqvi additionally condemned the assault.

Friday’s assault occurred as Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who’s on an official two-day go to, was attending an occasion with Sharif. The occasion in Islamabad was a number of miles away from the positioning of the explosion.

A prime Shiite chief, Raja Nasir, expressed deep sorrow over the assault at Khadija Al-Kubra.

“Such a terrorist act within the federal capital shouldn’t be solely a severe failure in defending human lives but additionally raises vital questions in regards to the efficiency of the authorities and regulation enforcement businesses,” he stated and requested for individuals to present blood because the hospitals in Islamabad had been in pressing want for blood provides for the wounded.

The final deadliest assault in Islamabad was in 2008, when a suicide bombing focused the Marriott Lodge within the capital, killing 63 individuals and wounding over 250 others. In November, a suicide bomber had struck exterior a courtroom in Islamabad, killing 12 individuals.

The most recent assault got here almost every week after the outlawed Baloch Liberation Military carried out a number of assaults in insurgency-hit southwestern Balochistan province, killing about 50 individuals.

Safety forces responding to these assaults additionally killed greater than 200 “terrorists,” in response to the navy.