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• Around 170 hurt after terrorists target Friday congregation
• Chaotic scenes as blast site strewn with blood, body parts and debris
• No group claims responsibility, investigators say suspected bomber was Peshawar resident
• Ministers point the finger at India, Afghanistan
• Islamabad IGP’s cousin slain while trying to protect father
• 22-year-old who tackled bomber perishes
ISLAMABAD: At least 31 people lost their lives, while 169 were injured after a suicide bomber ripped through the Friday congregation at an imambargah on the outskirts of Islamabad.
The explosion took place inside the mosque at the Imambargah Qasr-i-Khadijatul Kubra, located in the Tarlai area of what is considered ‘rural Islamabad’, off Lehtrar Road.
Police officials said the explosion occurred after Friday prayers, and the casualty toll was expected to rise further.
Police said the attacker was stopped at the gate of the mosque, where he detonated his explosive payload.
Footage and photos from the blast site showed several bodies lying near the mosque’s front gate, with people and debris also strewn across the red-carpeted prayer hall.
Dozens more wounded were lying in the garden outside the mosque as people called for help.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but sources said investigators had identified the attacker, who is said to have been linked with the so-called Islamic State terrorist group.
The brazen attack elicited an outpouring of grief from across the country, and prompted condemnations from most world capitals, as well as local political and religious groups.
Eyewitness accounts
Muhammad Kazim, 52, told AFP he arrived at the imambargah’s mosque shortly after 1pm on Friday, and took up a place around seven or eight rows behind the prayer leader.
“During the first bow of the Namaz, we heard gunfire,” he said, adding that the congregation was still bowing when the explosion occurred.
Talking to Dawn, Syed Ashfaq said he was sitting in the lawn of his house, located adjacent to the imambargah, when he heard six to seven gunshots outside his house.
“I realised that it was an attack on the imambargah,” he said, adding that he was heading towards his gate, while trying to call the police, when he felt a massive explosion. “Then, I saw flame and clouds of smoke billowing from the imambargah”.
The witness claimed that there was more than one attacker, adding that they shot the security guards deployed at the main gate of the imambargah, saying that he saw them fall to the ground. Meanwhile, a guard positioned on the rooftop, who also fired at the attackers, sustained a bullet injury to his leg.
The suicide bomber, however, managed to get past the main gate and reached the door of the main prayer hall.
Syed Ashfaq told Dawn that 22-year-old Aoun Abbas, who was praying inside the hall, had abandoned his rituals and tried to tackle the attacker. However, he too lost his life when the suicide bomber exploded himself.
“I have no words to describe what I have witnessed inside the hall,” Ashfaq said.
He narrated how people from nearby brought around their own vehicles to shift the injured to hospital, as the first Rescue 1122 vehicle arrived at the scene around 40 minutes after the attack.
Finger pointed at Afghanistan, India
Speaking to reporters at the imambargah, State Minister for Interior Talal Chaudhry said that while the attacker was not an Afghan national, authorities had been able to determine that he had travelled to Afghanistan a number of times.
He said that Pakistan had shared evidence with the rest of the world, including its neighbouring countries, that terrorism in Pakistan was sponsored by India.
“We have proof that India has tripled its investment into this. They (terrorists) are not carrying out attacks for religion, but for dollars … Whether they belong to the BLA, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan or any other group, they are paid in dollars,” he added.
The minister further stated that Islamabad had repeatedly urged Afghanistan not to provide space to terrorists and not to become India’s proxy.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also accused neighbouring countries of being behind this dastardly act, saying: “The collusion between India and Afghanistan is being revealed”.
Meanwhile, addressing the media at Polyclinic Hospital, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry also claimed that “India is behind” the incident.
Suicide bomber’s identity
Sources close to the investigation told Dawn that the attacker — whose severed head was found at the crime scene — had been identified as a resident of Gunj, in the walled city of Peshawar. They said that forensic investigators tracked his identity through the Nadra database.
Preliminarily investigation suggested that he was linked to the IS militant group, and had travelled to Afghanistan multiple times.
The Peshawar police are also being approached to interrogate the family and the relatives of the suicide bomber and collect the other relevant details.
Investigators said that all angles are being probed in this regard, and geo-fencing of the area was being conducted to identify other suspects.
Authorities were conducting forensic sweeps of the crime scene, while CCTV footage from nearby cameras has been obtained to track the attackers.
When approached, a senior Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police official told Dawn that they were making a lot of progress in the investigation.
Another source said that raids were being conducted, and that some of the suspected bomber’s relatives had been picked up in Nowshera.
IGP’s cousin
Islamabad Inspector General of Police Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi was also affected by the tragic attack, as it emerged that a member of his family also lost his life in the attack on the imambargah.
Syed Hassan Ali, 33, was IGP Rizvi’s first cousin. His father, retired Sq Ldr Syed Mehmood Ali, was also injured in the attack.
The deceased was a resident of Park Enclave, and would sometimes come to the Tarlai imambargah to offer Friday prayers as it was close to his residence.
Talking to Dawn, Ikramullah, a childhood friend of Syed Hassan Ali, said his passing was a huge loss.
Ikram claimed that Hassan Ali was killed while trying to shield his own father. His funeral will be held at the Imam Sadiq Imambargah in Sector G-9 today, while last rites will be held later in the afternoon in his native village in Mansehra.
Ismail Khan in Peshawar also contributed to this report
Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2026
