Twelve people were killed and 36 were injured on Tuesday in a suicide blast outside the district and sessions court building in Islamabad’s G-11 area, according to officials.
The attack was claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.
The incident occurred as international events were being hosted in the capital, including the Inter-Parliamentary Speakers’ Conference and the 6th Margalla Dialogue, while a cricket match between the Green Shirts and Sri Lanka was also being held in Rawalpindi.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, while briefing the media outside the court, said that a “suicide blast” had occurred at 12:39pm. He said that 12 people were killed and 27 were injured, adding that the wounded were being provided medical treatment, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif personally in touch with the hospitals in question.
Later, however, the spokesperson for the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Dr Mubahshir Daha, said that “12 people have been martyred in the blast”, while the number of injured had risen to 36, as per a statement.
Daha said that “Thirty-six injured people were brought to PIMS, out of which 18 have been discharged after treatment, while 14 have been moved to wards and four are in critical condition.”
Providing details of the blast, Naqvi told reporters that the attacker stood outside the court for around 12 minutes before he detonated the explosives.
“He first attempted to go inside the court, but then targeted the police vehicle after he was unable to do so,” Naqvi said.
He added that an investigation was underway and identifying the attacker was a top priority. “I assure you we will identify him in the next few hours,” he said. “We are linking this blast with a lot of things and, in the coming hours or days, we will be very clear about it,” the interior minister said.
“We are not taking this blast as just another one,” he added, noting that its timing and the federal capital being targeted “has a lot of messages”.
“I don’t want to say anything about how Indians do… like where and what happened half an hour before the blast even occurs,” he quipped.
“We have a clear message that whoever did this will bear the consequences.”
PM Shehbaz strongly condemned the bombing “by the khawarij active with Indian support and the Fitna al-Hindustan”, according to a statement from the federal government. Extending his prayers for the loved ones of the deceased, he directed that those injured be provided with the best medical facilities.
“The prime minister ordered an investigation into the incident and said that the perpetrators will be brought to justice, come what may,” the statement read.
“Khawarij, active on Indian instigation from Afghanistan, also attacked innocent children in Wana at this time; it is time for the world to condemn such nefarious conspiracies of India,” it added. “Both attacks are the worst examples of Indian state terrorism in the region.”
“We will continue the war against them until the complete elimination of the scourge of terrorism and the suppression of the last terrorist of Fitna al-Hindustan and Fitna al-Khawarij,” the statement concluded.
Later, Shehbaz Sharif called on President Asif Ali Zardari at Aiwan-e-Sadr. The overall security and political situation in the country came under discussion.
While condemning the recent acts of terrorism the two leaders reaffirmed that operations against foreign-sponsored terrorists and their facilitators would continue until terrorism is completely eliminated from the country.
The President and the Prime Minister also discussed matters of national importance.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Tuesday that the country was “in a state of war,” highlighting the broader context of Tuesday’s suicide attack at Islamabad’s district court.
“Anyone who thinks that the Pakistan Army is fighting this war in the Afghan-Pakistan border region and the remote areas of Balochistan, the suicide attack at the Islamabad district courts is a wake-up call,” he wrote on X.
“In this environment, it would be futile to hold out greater hope for successful negotiations with the rulers of Kabul,” he added.
Speaking to a private TV channel later, Asif warned that Pakistan could carry out strikes inside Afghanistan following recent terrorist attacks in Islamabad and South Waziristan, slamming the Afghan Taliban regime for harbouring militants behind the violence.
The defence minister said cross-border action inside Afghanistan could not be “ruled out” following the two attacks.
Asif rejected the Afghan Taliban regime’s condemnation of the attacks, saying that such expressions of regret could not “be taken as proof of sincerity”. “Those sheltered by the Afghan Taliban are repeatedly attacking us,” he said.
The defence minister warned India and Afghanistan against any misadventure, saying Pakistan would “pay back in the same coin”.
Meanwhile, British High Commissioner to Pakistan, Jane Marriott, asked British citizens to monitor travel advice.
“We are aware of an explosion in Islamabad which has reportedly left several people dead,” she wrote on X. “We are closely tracking, and British nationals should monitor travel advice. My thoughts are with the loved ones of those who have lost their lives.”
On the other hand, the United States, the European Union, and China condemned the terrorist attack.
The State of Qatar also denounced the attacks taking place in Islamabad and Wana. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reaffirms Qatar’s firm stance rejecting all forms of violence, terrorism, and criminal acts, regardless of their motives or justifications. “The Ministry expresses the State of Qatar’s sincere condolences to the families of the victims and to the government and people of Pakistan, and wishes a swift recovery to the injured.”
Separately, all students and teachers were safely evacuated on Tuesday from Cadet College Wana in South Waziristan during an ongoing clearance operation by security forces against terrorists hiding inside the educational institute, said security sources.
Sources had earlier confirmed that all cadets were safe but said around 300 people were still inside the college.
Following the rescue of civilians from the incident site, sources said the “operation will now be brought to a comprehensive and decisive conclusion”. “The security operation will continue until the last militant is sent to hell.”
The clearance operation is being led by inspector general of Frontier Corps Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (South), sources said.
State-run PTV, citing security sources, reported that at the time of the attack, approximately 650 individuals, including 525 cadets, were present at the college.
Speaking to the media earlier in the day, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said that “three [people] have been martyred” during the ongoing operation, without specifying who they were.
However, he had said at the time that security forces had successfully rescued everyone from the building.
Meanwhile, a bomb attack in the Daraban tehsil of Dera Ismail Khan on Tuesday injured at least 14 security personnel.
The attack, said to be a remotely controlled improvised explosive device (IED), targeted a security forces convoy, said security sources.
Following the attack, a large contingent of police and security forces reached the incident site and cordoned off the area.
A search operation was launched to sanitise the area.
Moreover, KP police said they thwarted a late-night attack on the Ahmadzai Police Station in the Bannu district.
In a press release, KP Police said “miscreants attempted to attack the police station with small and big weapons” in the early hours of Tuesday, but it was foiled due to the cops’ timely response.
In another incident in Bannu, a policeman embraced martyrdom when unknown terrorists targeted him in the Walkhi Mammakhel area.
In Lakki Marwat, terrorists torched the furniture in a government primary school in the Paharkhel Pacca area.