Suicide bomber stopped at mosque gate kills 50 in Islamabad Friday prayers attack

At least 50 people were killed and more than 150 injured after a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device at the gate of a Shi’ite mosque in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, during Friday prayers, police and government officials said.

According to two Pakistani police officials cited by Reuters, the attacker was intercepted by security guards at the entrance of the Khadija Tul Kubra Imambargah, located in a semi-urban area on the outskirts of the city. Unable to breach the mosque premises, the bomber detonated the explosives at the gate, triggering a deadly blast as worshippers gathered inside.

The officials, who were not authorized to speak to the media, said the intervention by guards prevented the attacker from entering the mosque, potentially limiting the scale of casualties.

‘Cowardly act of terror,’ says Pakistan minister

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry condemned the blast as a terrorist attack, expressing grief over the loss of lives in what he described as a “cowardly act.”

“Such acts of terrorism cannot dampen the morale of the nation,” Chaudhry said in a post on X. “The need of the hour is unity for peace, tolerance and stability, and solidarity with our law enforcement agencies.”

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also denounced the attack, calling the targeting of worshippers inside a mosque “an attack on humanity, religion and the national conscience.”

“No religion or ideology permits the murder of innocent people,” he said in a statement, adding that terrorism in all its forms strikes at Pakistan’s unity and values.

However, Islamabad Capital Territory Police spokesperson Taqi Jawad told The Dawn that it was too early to conclusively determine the nature of the blast. He confirmed that among those killed was a cousin of Islamabad Inspector General of Police Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi, while another relative sustained injuries.

Scenes of horror at blast site

Images from the scene showed bloodied bodies sprawled across the carpeted floor of the mosque, shattered glass and debris strewn around the prayer hall. Survivors and worshippers were seen frantically helping the injured in the immediate aftermath of the explosion.

Dozens of wounded victims lay in the mosque’s gardens as emergency responders rushed them to hospitals across the capital.

Shi’ite community repeatedly targeted

While bombings are relatively rare in heavily guarded Islamabad, Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant violence in recent years. Shi’ite Muslims, a minority in the predominantly Sunni country of about 241 million people, have repeatedly been targeted in sectarian attacks.

The Sunni Islamist militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has previously targeted Shi’ites, whom it considers heretics. No group has claimed responsibility for February 6 attack so far.

Islamabad had last witnessed a suicide bombing on November 11, when 12 people were killed and 27 injured. Pakistani authorities had said an Afghan national was responsible for that attack.