A suicide bomber killed dozens of individuals and injured greater than 160 throughout Friday prayers at a Shiite Muslim mosque in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, authorities stated.
ISIS, which refers to itself because the “Islamic State” group, claimed duty for the assault by way of two posts on its Telegram channel, and included the identify and film of the alleged bomber. NCS was unable to right away confirm the picture.
The loss of life toll stood at 32 as of Saturday afternoon, in line with police in Islamabad.
Authorities arrested the alleged mastermind behind the assault, an Afghan ISIS operative, safety sources claimed to NCS on Saturday, in what they referred to as “a major breakthrough” for the investigation. The sources additionally alleged the planning and coaching for the assault was carried out by ISIS in Afghanistan.
Four suspects deemed “facilitators of the attack” have been additionally arrested after intelligence and legislation enforcement companies carried out raids in northwestern Pakistan, the sources added. One police officer was killed in the operation.
ISIS stated the attacker shot guards who tried to cease him earlier than detonating his explosive vest. In its assertion the group warned that “there is still more to come.”
This was the deadliest assault in the nation since January 2023, when a blast at a mosque in the northwestern metropolis of Peshawar killed greater than 100 individuals.
“We had just begun the prayer when we heard the sound of gunfire, followed by a powerful explosion,” a worshiper on the mosque, Syed Ameer Hussain Shah, 47, advised NCS.
“I got injured as well. At that time, the mosque hall was full, with more than 400 worshipers inside.”
Thousands of mourners attended mass funeral prayers beneath heavy safety in Islamabad on Saturday, in line with Reuters information company, with law enforcement officials guarding the occasion.
Pakistan has witnessed a rising wave of militancy in latest years, however assaults have been much less frequent in the closely guarded capital. A bombing in Islamabad in November, which killed 12, was the deadliest suicide assault to rock the town in almost twenty years.
Images in the aftermath of the assault confirmed our bodies lined in blood mendacity on the ground of the mosque surrounded by shards of glass and particles.
“It was a horrible scene of my life which I could never have imagined,” 24-year-old Shoaib advised NCS from PIMS Hospital Islamabad, the place he was visiting his wounded cousin.
“I heard the sound of single fire when we were in the middle of Friday prayers and, after a few seconds, a huge deafening sound of the explosion,” he stated. “Everyone was running outside while some worshipers began to shift the wounded to hospital. My young cousin sustained a wound in the right leg.”
The US embassy in Islamabad condemned the assault. “Acts of terror and violence against civilians and places of worship are unacceptable,” it stated on X. “The people of Pakistan deserve safety, dignity, and the ability to practice their faith without fear.”
Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari stated the concentrating on of harmless civilians was “a crime against humanity,” and your entire nation stood “shoulder to shoulder with the families affected,” the Associated Press reported.
Neighboring Afghanistan’s ministry of international affairs additionally condemned the assault. “The Islamic Emirate considers attacks that violate the sanctity of mosques and sacred religious rites and target worshipers and civilians to be in contradiction to Islamic and humanitarian values,” it stated.
NCS’s Sophie Tanno contributed reporting.
This story has been up to date.