Mosque explosion in Pakistan: more than 30 dead and 169 injured, according to authorities

Pakistan: More than 30 dead in mosque explosion, officials say

At least 31 people were killed and 169 injured in an explosion at a mosque during Friday prayers in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, officials said.

Police said a suicide bomber detonated a device after approaching the gates of the Shiite mosque in the city’s Tarlai district. Eyewitnesses told the BBC that the explosion was preceded by the sound of gunfire.

The Islamic State group later claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement that included the name and photo of the alleged attacker.

Condemning the incident, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed his “deep sadness” calling for a thorough investigation and immediate identification of those responsible for the attack.

In separate statements, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said “targeting innocent civilians is a crime against humanity”, while Defense Minister Khawaja Asif suggested India and Afghanistan were behind the attack.

Asif said in a social media post that the attacker had been “proven” to have traveled to and from Afghanistan, and that “collusion between India and Afghanistan was revealed.”

The Afghan Taliban government called Khawaja Asif’s comments “regrettable,” saying the Pakistani minister “hastily tried to blame the incident on Afghanistan without presenting any credible evidence.”

IS claimed responsibility for the attack on Friday in the name of its “Province of Pakistan” branch, via the group’s Telegram channels. IS’s Amaq news agency also issued a statement offering additional details.

Amaq claimed IS attacker arrived at ‘central temple’ [mosque]” in Tarlai district, Shahzad region. Guards at the scene then tried to arrest the attacker at the outer gate, it was claimed, but he fired his pistol at them, injuring two people, before heading inside.

Amaq added that when the attacker arrived at the inner gate of the “temple”, he detonated his “explosive vest” in the middle of a “crowd of Shiites”, inflicting a “large number” of casualties.

ISIS identified the attacker as “Sayf Allah al-Ansari”. The nom de guerre Ansari is often used to refer to someone who is an inhabitant of the region. The Amaq report also shared a photo showing the alleged masked attacker.

Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi earlier condemned the attack and offered condolences, calling such attacks a “contradiction to Islamic and humanitarian values.”

India’s foreign ministry also condemned the attack and offered condolences for the loss of life, calling accusations that it may have been involved “baseless”.

Talal Chaudhry, Pakistan’s minister of state for interior, said the suspect was not an Afghan citizen, according to local media.

A spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack in the “strongest terms” and called for those responsible to be “identified and brought to justice.”

“We bowed, then there was an explosion”

Zaheer Abbas was praying inside the Khadijatul Kubra Mosque when he first heard the sound of bullets.

“After that, we bowed and then we prostrated ourselves, then there was an explosion,” he told BBC Urdu. “After which, there were injured people everywhere.”

Photos of the mosque taken after the disaster show shoes strewn on the ground, broken glass and people sitting among the rubble.

The emergency was declared as hospitals began to receive the injured, with a call for blood donations launched.

Abbas, who said he “lost his mind” in the moments after the explosion, was eventually pulled out by emergency services and taken to hospital, where he was quickly released.

“Luckily I didn’t suffer any serious injuries,” he said.

According to Pakistan’s defense minister, the attacker opened fire and detonated the bomb after being questioned by security guards.

The mosque’s caretaker, Syed Ashfaq, who lives nearby, also heard gunshots and started running towards the mosque to help.

“By the time I reached it there had already been an explosion,” he told the BBC. “The bodies were lying everywhere, some were missing arms, others were missing legs. We took the most injured in our own vehicle. [to hospital]”.

Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Irfan Memon told X that the death toll stood at 31 and 169 injured.

Photos from local hospitals show the injured being transported by private vehicles and ambulances, with a photographer for the AFP news agency saying he saw dozens of people arriving at the hospital.

Attacks are relatively rare in the capital, although one in November left 12 dead. 27 other people were injured in the explosion outside a courthouse.

Friday’s explosion comes after a week of violence that saw 58 civilians killed in coordinated attacks in Balochistan province.

The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) rebel group said it was behind the attacks. The army, which has been fighting an insurgency in the region for decades, said it had killed more than 200 militants in response.

Last year was also Pakistan’s deadliest in more than a decade, with combat-related deaths increasing by 74%, with militants accounting for more than half the death toll, according to a new report released by an independent think tank.

The Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) said violence in Pakistan has left 3,413 people dead – up from 1,950 in 2024 – and 2,138 militants killed.

Additional reporting Caroline Davies