At least 31 people were killed and 169 wounded when a suicide bomber detonated explosives at the Khadijah al-Kubra mosque-imambargah in the Tarlai area of Islamabad during Friday prayers, authorities said.
Police said the attacker was stopped at the imambargah gate but exploded himself there. Eyewitnesses told reporters the assailant fired shots before detonating, and television footage showed multiple bodies amid broken glass and debris. Rescue teams, including police and Rescue 1122 personnel, rushed the injured to hospitals, and an emergency was declared as several of the wounded were in critical condition.
Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Irfan Nawaz Memon confirmed the casualty figures. No group immediately claimed responsibility, but police sources said the bomber was a foreign national with alleged links to Fitna al Khwaraji, a term used in connection with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
A relative of the Islamabad police chief was among those killed, and another family member was injured, the capital’s police spokesperson said. Officials warned the death toll could rise as medical teams continued treating the critically wounded.
The attack occurred while Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was visiting Pakistan on a two-day state visit. It follows recent security operations in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, where forces reported killing 24 militants in two separate incidents.
The TTP and allied militants have been blamed for many of Pakistan’s deadliest attacks over the past decades, including assaults on military installations and the 2008 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, which killed 54 people and wounded more than 250. Investigations into Friday’s bombing are ongoing.
