Islamabad Imambargah suicide bomber identified as Peshawar resident

ISLAMABAD:

The suicide bomber, who attacked Imambargah Khadijah al-Kubra in Islamabad on Friday, was identified as Yasir Khan, a resident of Peshawar, sources close to the investigation said. The Express PK Press Club.

The attacker detonated explosives when devotees were offering Friday prayers inside the crowded imambargah in Tarlai area, police and administration officials said, adding that at least 31 devotees were martyred and around 170 others injured in the blast.

According to preliminary information, Khan had been in Afghanistan for around five months before returning to Pakistan. Sources also said he may have links to the banned Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP) militant group, although investigations are ongoing.

Khan reportedly received militant training during his time in Afghanistan. “He stayed at the Mansoor Istashhadi training center in the northeastern Afghan province of Kuner and traveled to and from Afghanistan several times,” sources said. The Express PK Press Club.

Authorities are continuing their investigation to uncover the entire network behind the deadly attack and determine all possible domestic and cross-border connections.

Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry also confirmed that the suicide bomber had been identified. “He is not an Afghan citizen, but forensic examination of the remaining parts of his body provided information on the number of times he visited Afghanistan,” he added.

State broadcaster PTV News said in an article

Defense Minister Khawaja Asif blamed the carnage at the imambargahs on what he described as an “India-Afghan nexus”.

In an article on X, he said it had been established that the attacker had traveled to and from Afghanistan and evidence was emerging of links between India and the Taliban.

He described the perpetrators as “enemies of both religion and the nation” and promised that the state would respond to the attack with full force.

Referring to the May 2025 military confrontation between Pakistan and India, he wrote that after a humiliating defeat, India was now fighting by proxy and no longer had the courage to engage in a direct war.