ISLAMABAD — A suicide bomber killed at least 31 people and injured about 170 others during Friday prayers at a mosque in Islamabad, officials said.
It was the country’s deadliest attack since January 2023, when an explosion at a mosque in the northwestern city of Peshawar killed more than 100 people.
“A total of 31 people lost their lives. The number of injured people taken to hospital rose to 169,” Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Irfan Menmon said in a statement.
Images from the scene showed a bloody body lying on the carpeted floor of the mosque, surrounded by broken glass, debris and panicked worshipers.
Dozens more injured people lay in the gardens of Khadija tul Kubla Imambargah, a semi-urban suburb of Islamabad, as people called for help.
“We had just started praying when we heard gunshots followed by a powerful explosion,” Syed Amir Hussein Shah, 47, a worshiper at the mosque, told CNN.
“I was also injured. At that time, the mosque hall was full with more than 400 worshipers.”
Two police officials said the gunman was stopped at the gate of the mosque before detonating the bomb.
An internal investigation suggests the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was behind the attack, a police source told CNN. So far, no claim of responsibility has been made.
Friday’s attack came after a week of violence in the country’s restive Balochistan province, where the military has been fighting a decades-long insurgency.
The region was paralyzed after separatist militants raided government buildings, hospitals and markets in coordinated attacks that left 58 civilians and security officials dead. The military said it had killed 216 militants in targeted attacks across the province.
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The military said early Friday that another 24 militants linked to Pakistan’s Tehreek-e-Taliban were killed in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtankhwa.
Images from the aftermath of the attack showed bloody bodies lying on the floor of the mosque surrounded by broken glass and rubble, Reuters reported.
The US Embassy in Islamabad condemned the attack. “Acts of terrorism and violence against civilians and places of worship are unacceptable,” he said, adding, “Pakistanis have the right to security, dignity and the ability to practice their faith without fear.”
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said targeting innocent civilians was a “crime against humanity” and said the entire country “stands with the families affected,” the Associated Press reported.
“We are providing all possible assistance to the families of the dead and injured. We are taking all possible steps to extend all the facilities they need,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal said after visiting the injured at Islamabad’s General Hospital.
Islamabad was already on high alert ahead of the visit of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on Friday, with roads around the capital blocked at checkpoints and security forces deployed throughout the city.
“Targeting places of worship and civilians is a heinous crime against humanity and a blatant violation of Islamic principles,” Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said in X.
