RAWALPINDI, July 20: Investigators examining evidence of the blast in Islamabad’s upmarket F-8 sector last Tuesday have declared that it was a suicide bombing with possible connections with the Lal Masjid, Dawn learnt on Friday.

The joint team probing the explosion, which took place a short time before Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry was due to address a lawyers’ convention, comprised officials of the Federal Investigation Agency, police and intelligence services.

In its report sent to the federal government, the team noted that: “It was a suicide bombing as a skull found at the site, which is believed to be that of the bomber, clearly suggested the use of an explosive belt that might have been a part of such stocks recovered from the Lal Masjid.”

According to the investigators, around five to six kilogrammes of “low-quality explosive material” was used in the improvised explosive device (IED), which was detonated in the terrorist attack, sources told this reporter.

A senior official close to the investigation revealed that the explosive material used in Islamabad suicide attack was different from that used in the blasts carried out in other parts of the country in the recent spate of suicide bombings.

He said the inquiry report categorically rejected the theory that a remote-controlled device had caused the deaths and destruction in the federal capital.

The report also suggested that either the suicide bomber was in a sitting position or the IED was placed on a chair when it was set off, he added.

“The blast left no crater because the explosive device was at least two feet higher than the ground level,” he said.

Meanwhile, one of the victims of the deadly bomb blast died in the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) Thursday night, raising the death toll to 19.

Doctors have described the condition of several other wounded persons as critical.

Hospital sources said the 10 out of the 40 injured being treated in Pims and the Federal Government Services Hospital had been discharged. Out of the 40 injured people, 25 are being treated in Pims with five of them in critical condition.

Four of the bodies are yet to identified as these were charred beyond recognition.

The high intensity blast occurred last Tuesday outside the venue of a lawyers’ convention at the District Bar Council, Islamabad, killing 17 people and injuring more than 55 others.

Most of the victims were political workers waiting to receive Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, who was to address the lawyers.