A suicide bomber detonated his explosives during a crowded Friday prayer service at a mosque
A suicide attack at a mosque in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, has resulted in the deaths of more than 30 individuals. Pakistani officials have alleged that India and Afghanistan were involved in the assault.
The explosion tore through the Khadija Tul Kubra mosque on Friday morning while it was filled with Shia worshippers. Emergency services reported at least 31 fatalities and 169 people wounded.
According to a statement on X from Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, security guards intercepted the attacker as he entered the mosque, but he was able to set off his bomb “in the last row of worshippers.”
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stated, “The perpetrators of the blast must be identified and brought to justice,” adding, “No one will be allowed to spread violence and instability in the country.”
Although no organization has claimed credit for the attack, Asif asserted that the attacker “has been proven to have been coming and going from Afghanistan,” and that the “threads of the alliance between India and the Taliban are being uncovered.”
The Prime Minister’s spokesman, Mosharraf Zaidi, stated that the bombing “is only the latest in a series of murderous terrorist attacks orchestrated by India” and its “terrorist proxies.”
Pakistan is engaged in a counterinsurgency operation against the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a militant separatist group operating in Balochistan, a province bordering Iran and Afghanistan. Pakistani authorities have often alleged that India supports the BLA, a charge that New Delhi strongly refutes.
Last weekend, Pakistani forces intensified their operations against the BLA, killing 177 militants—and over 30 civilians—in retaliation for a string of recent assaults that killed 50 people. Similar to the mosque bombing on Friday, these BLA attacks were attributed to India.
On Sunday, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said, “We categorically reject the baseless allegations made by Pakistan, which are nothing but its usual tactics to deflect attention from its own internal failings,” and added, “Instead of parroting frivolous claims each time there is a violent incident, it would do better to focus on addressing long-standing demands of its people in the region. Its record of suppression, brutality and violation of human rights is well known,”
New Delhi has not yet issued a response to the most recent accusations from Asif and Zaidi.