At least 31 people martyred, 169 injured as Pakistan faces new militant threats
Paramilitary soldiers stand guard at the site after a deadly explosion at an imambargah on the outskirts of Islamabad, February 6, 2026. PHOTO: REUTERS
ISLAMABAD:
A suicide attack claimed by the Islamic State group (Daesh) in a Shiite mosque in Islamabad killed at least 31 people on Friday February 6 and 169 others were injured. It was the deadliest attack in the Pakistani capital since the Marriott Hotel bombing in 2008.
City officials said 31 people died in the explosion at the Imam Bargah Qasr-e-Khadijatul Kubra mosque in the Tarlai district on the city’s outskirts, and many others were treated for their injuries. The number of deaths is expected to rise further.
The explosion occurred during Friday prayers, when mosques across the country were packed with worshipers. ISIS said one of its militants targeted the congregation, detonating an explosive vest and “inflicting a large number of deaths and injuries”, according to the SITE intelligence group, which monitors jihadist communications.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif promised that those responsible for the blast would be found and brought to justice. It was the deadliest attack in the Pakistani capital since September 2008, when 60 people were killed in a truck bomb explosion that destroyed part of the five-star Marriott hotel.
AFP journalists at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences hospital saw several people, including children, being carried on stretchers or by their arms and legs. Medics and bystanders helped unload victims with blood-soaked clothing from the backs of ambulances and vehicles. At least one injured person arrived in the trunk of a car.
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar called the attack a “heinous crime against humanity and a blatant violation of Islamic principles.” “Pakistan stands united against terrorism in all its forms,” he said in a message on X.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said “attacks on civilians and places of worship are unacceptable,” according to his spokesperson.
The attack comes as Pakistani security forces battle escalating insurgencies in the southern and northern provinces bordering Afghanistan.
Islamabad said terrorist groups in southern Balochistan, as well as the Pakistani Taliban and other terrorists in the northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near Islamabad, have used Afghan territory as a safe haven from which to launch attacks.
The Afghan Taliban government has repeatedly denied Pakistan’s accusations. Bilateral relations have collapsed, with forces from both sides regularly clashing along the border.
In Balochistan, attacks claimed last week by India-backed terrorists killed 36 civilians and 22 security forces, triggering a wave of counter-operations in which authorities said security forces killed nearly 200 terrorists.
