A massive explosion ripped through a mosque on the outskirts of Pakistan’s capital Islamabad on Friday, killing at least 30 people and wounding over 130, local authorities said.
Islamabad police said the blast at the sprawling mosque in the city’s Tarlai area was a suicide attack and that an investigation was underway.
A senior police official told AFP, on condition of anonymity, that the death toll was "expected to rise further".
An AFP photographer outside the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital saw dozens of wounded people arriving.
In a statement, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed “deep grief” and “strongly condemned” the blast.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry also strongly condemned the attack in a post on X, expressing grief over the loss of lives in the “cowardly act”.
He extended condolences to the bereaved families and prayed for the recovery of the injured.
“Such acts of terrorism cannot dampen the morale of the nation. The need of the hour is that we all stand united for peace, tolerance, and stability, and express solidarity with law enforcement agencies,” the minister stressed.
Television footage and social media images showed police and residents transporting the injured to nearby hospitals. Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attack, and asked authorities to ensure the provision of best medical care to the wounded persons, who were arriving at the city's different hospitals.
In November, a suicide bomber had struck outside a court in Islamabad, killing 12 people.
The latest attack comes nearly a week after the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army carried out multiple attacks in insurgency-hit southwestern Balochistan province, killing around 50 people.
Security forces responding to those attacks also killed more than 200 terrorists, according to the military.
