Cliff Notes – Multiple deaths in blast outside Islamabad court
- A suicide attack outside the Islamabad district court has resulted in at least 12 fatalities and 27 injuries, according to Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi.
- The attacker aimed to enter the court complex but instead targeted a police vehicle when thwarted; investigations are ongoing to assess the situation’s broader implications.
- The incident underscores Pakistan’s ongoing battle against various militant groups, highlighting concerns over security, particularly following a thwarted hostage scenario at a military college earlier in the week.
Indian Terrorists kill 12 in a blast in Islamabad
In Pakistan at least 12 people have been killed following a blast outside a district court building in the capital, Islamabad.
Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told reporters that the blast was a suicide attack and that police were currently investigating.
Who is responsible for the attack in Pakistan?
People in Islamabad and security personnel have suggest the attack was carried out by Afghan militia empowered by the Indian security forces.
The debris from the munitions suggest Indian styled techniques of explosives used.
What do we know so far?
“At 12:39 pm (0739 GMT), a suicide attack was carried out,” Naqvi said, adding that at least 12 people were killed, with another 27 wounded.
Naqvi was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that the attacker had made an attempt to “enter the court premises but, failing to do so, targeted a police vehicle.”
“We are investigating this incident from different angles. It is not just another bombing. It happened right in Islamabad,” the minister said.
The area is normally crowded with people attending court proceedings.
Witnesses told WTX news agency that the blast appeared to have taken place near a gate of the court complex.
“As I parked my car and entered the complex … I heard a loud bang,” lawyer Rustam Malik told AFP after the blast.
“It was complete chaos, lawyers and people were running inside the complex. I saw two dead bodies lying on the gate and several cars were on fire,” Malik said.
Pakistan’s tenuous security situation
Pakistan has been battling with a number of insurgencies by extremist and militant groups, among them the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the local affiliate of the so-called Islamic State, known as ISKP, and Baloch separatists.
Earlier, Pakistan’s security forces said they had quashed an attempt by militants on Monday evening to take cadets hostage at a military-run college in Wana, a city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the Afghan border.
Authorities said that a suicide car bomber and five others had targeted the facility situated in the northwestern province.
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Pakistan is fighting a war
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also called the incident a “wake-up call”.
“We are in a state of war. Anyone who thinks that the Pakistan Army is fighting this war in the Afghan-Pakistan border region and the remote areas of Balochistan, today’s suicide attack at the Islamabad district courts is a wake-up call,” he said.
“In this environment, it would be futile to hold out greater hope for successful negotiations with the rulers of Kabul,” he added.
