A suicide bombing attack at a Imam Bargah in Islamabad has killed at least 31 people and wounded dozens more, in one of the worst such incidents to hit Pakistan’s capital.
The powerful explosion occurred at Khadija Tul Kubra mosque, in southeastern Islamabad’s Tarlai Kalan area, during Friday prayers.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the mosque’s security guards tried to intercept the suspect, who opened fire at them before detonating his explosives among the worshippers.
Asif alleged the attacker had been travelling to and from Afghanistan.
In a statement, the Islamabad administration said 169 people were transferred to hospital after rescue teams reached the site of the explosion.
On Friday evening, the ISIL (ISIS) group claimed responsibility for the attack on its Telegram channel, releasing an image that it said showed the attacker holding a gun, with his face covered and eyes blurred, the Reuters news agency reported.
An affiliate of ISIL has been blamed for previous attacks targeting Pakistan’s Shia minority.
Footage shared on social media and verified by Al Jazeera showed bloodied bodies lying on the floor of the mosque, surrounded by broken glass and debris.
Islamabad resident Aun Shah said his father was “badly” injured in the attack. “He has a hole in his stomach,” he said.
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar condemned the incident as a “cowardly suicide attack on innocent worshippers”.
“Targeting places of worship and civilians is a heinous crime against humanity and a blatant violation of Islamic principles. Pakistan stands united against terrorism in all its forms,” he posted on X.
At the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences hospital, AFP news agency journalists saw several adults and children being carried in on stretchers or by their arms and legs.
Medics and bystanders helped unload victims with blood-soaked clothes from the back of ambulances and vehicles. At least one casualty arrived in the boot of a car, while friends and relatives of the wounded screamed as they arrived at the hospital’s heavily guarded emergency ward, the news agency reported.