By Asif Shahzad
ISLAMABAD, Feb 6 (Reuters) – A suicide bomber killed at least 31 people and wounded almost 170 others during Friday prayers in a Shi’ite Muslim mosque in Islamabad, officials said, in the deadliest attack of its kind in the capital in over a decade.
Images from the site showed bloodied bodies lying on the carpeted mosque floor surrounded by shards of glass, debris and panicked worshippers.
Dozens more wounded were lying in the gardens of the Khadija Tul Kubra Imambargah, in a semi-urban area on the outskirts of Islamabad, as people called for help.
Two police officials said the attacker was stopped at the gate of the mosque before detonating the bomb. They asked not to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
CAPITAL ALREADY ON ALERT FOR VISIT
Bombings are rare in the heavily guarded capital, although Pakistan has been hit by a rising wave of militancy in the past few years, particularly along the border with Afghanistan.
“A total of 31 people have lost their lives. The number of wounded brought to hospitals has risen to 169,” Islamabad’s Deputy Commissioner, Irfan Memon, said in a statement.
The attack was the deadliest suicide bombing in Islamabad in more than a decade, according to conflict monitor ACLED, which said it “bears the hallmarks of the Islamic State”.
Shi’ites, who are in the minority in the predominantly Sunni Muslim nation of 241 million, have been targeted in sectarian violence in the past, including by Islamic State and the Sunni Islamist group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.
“We are giving every possible help to the families of those killed and those injured. We are doing everything possible to extend all the facilities they need,” parliamentary affairs minister Tariq Fazal said after visiting the wounded at Islamabad’s Polyclinic hospital.
The capital was already on high alert on Friday for the visiting President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, with roads around the capital blocked by checkpoints and security forces posted across the city.
WEEK OF VIOLENCE
“Targeting places of worship and civilians is a heinous crime against humanity and a blatant violation of Islamic principles,” Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on X.
“Pakistan stands united against terrorism in all its forms. This barbarity will not intimidate us and extremists will be brought to full account.”
Friday’s attack followed a week of violence in the country’s restive Balochistan province where the military has battled a decades-long insurgency.
That region was brought to a standstill after separatist militants stormed government buildings, hospitals and markets in a coordinated attack, killing 58 civilians and security officials. The military said it killed 216 militants in targeted offensives across the province.
The military said earlier on Friday that another 24 militants linked to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan were killed in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The last major attack in Islamabad was a suicide bombing on November 11 that killed 12 people and wounded 27 others. Pakistan said it was carried out by an Afghan national. No group claimed responsibility for that attack.
(Reporting by Asif Shahzad in Islamabad and Mushtaq Ali in Peshawar; Additional reporting by Ariba Shahid in Karachi and Saud Mehsud in Dera Ismail Khan; Writing by Sakshi Dayal and Saad Sayeed; Editing by Alex Richardson, Toby Chopra and Andrew Heavens)
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