At least 30 people were killed and more than 130 others wounded on Friday after a suicide bomber struck a Shiite mosque in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, police and security sources confirmed.
The blast occurred shortly after Friday prayers, a time when mosques across the country are usually filled with worshippers. A senior police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the casualty figure was likely to climb.
The death toll was “expected to rise further”, the official said.
Providing details of how the attack unfolded, a security source said: “The attacker was stopped at the gate and detonated himself.”
As families searched frantically for loved ones, anguished cries filled the air around the hospital’s heavily guarded emergency ward.
At the attack site, armed security personnel cordoned off the mosque as pools of blood were visible on the ground, according to reporters. Videos circulating on social media — which could not be immediately verified — showed bodies lying near the mosque’s entrance, with debris and personal items scattered across the red-carpeted prayer hall.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, condemned the bombing and vowed accountability, saying those responsible would be tracked down and punished.
No group had immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes amid escalating security challenges across Pakistan.
Although Pakistan is predominantly Sunni, Shiites account for between 10 and 15 per cent of the population and have repeatedly been targeted in sectarian violence over the years.
The attack also comes against the backdrop of growing insurgencies in multiple regions of the country. Authorities in Islamabad have accused separatist armed groups in southern Balochistan, as well as the Pakistani Taliban and other Islamist militants operating in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, of using Afghan territory as a staging ground for attacks.
Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government has consistently rejected these claims, but tensions between the two neighbours have intensified, with frequent clashes reported along the border.
The last major attack in Islamabad occurred in November, when a suicide bombing outside a court killed 12 people and wounded dozens — the first such incident in the capital in nearly three years.
Security forces are also under pressure in Balochistan, where separatist attacks last week reportedly killed 36 civilians and 22 security personnel. Those assaults were followed by counter-operations in which authorities said nearly 200 militants were killed.
