• IS claims responsibility as death toll rises to 36
• Interior minister says suicide bomber trained in Afghanistan, India multiplied terrorists’ funding
• ASI martyred in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa raids
• Security tightened in capital as funerals held
ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Saturday said that four facilitators behind Friday’s suicide bombing at an Islamabad imambargah, including the mastermind, had been arrested, saying the suspects were detained in overnight raids in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Meanwhile, the militant Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement on the Telegram messaging app, as the death toll rose to 36 on Saturday.
Addressing a news conference at Safe City Islamabad, the interior minister said Pakistan was still in shock after the attack. “Yesterday was a day of sorrow for the entire Pakistan. This sorrow was felt in every home in Pakistan and the incident has shaken us all,” he said.
He said multiple agencies launched an investigation immediately after the blast and carried out operations overnight. “I want to praise our agencies and the Counter-Terrorism Department in KP that all the people who were linked to the blast, including the masterminds, were arrested before 3am,” he said.
After the blast, raids were conducted in Peshawar and Nowshera and the facilitators and the mastermind were arrested.
Mr Naqvi claimed that the mastermind was an Afghan national, affiliated with Daesh. “The terrorist involved in the incident got training in Afghanistan. How he was trained, his travel history tells everything,” he said.
A KP police assistant sub-inspector was martyred during the overnight raids, while several personnel were injured, the minister added.
He stressed that the network had been dismantled. “The entire ISIS network has been busted,” he said.
Mr Naqvi claimed there were at least “21 terrorist organisations” operating from Afghanistan. He alleged that the mercenaries shifted allegiance “to whoever paid them more”.
“Someone is giving them funds and they are getting dollars from somewhere,” he said, alleging India was providing funding and targets.
“Those who were giving $500 are now giving $1,500… India has increased the funding three times after May,” he said.
He also criticised propaganda narratives, stressing that the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) was a terrorist outfit that “creates content” through videos, which he said were picked up by Indian media. “Now India is doing propaganda that terrorists occupied Pakistan,” he said.
“There is no category in war, the enemy is an enemy. But in our country people made categories,” he said, adding that Pakistan would continue the fight, but the world must recognise it as a regional threat. “The terrorism that is happening inside our country was conducted from Afghanistan,” he said.
Mr Naqvi indicated Islamabad’s security system would be upgraded in light of the attack. He said a meeting had been held with police and the administration to “upgrade the system”, adding that the bomber had carried out reconnaissance and then left the area.
He also raised the issue of extremist content online. “Terrorists are using a number of social media accounts but these are not blocked,” he said, adding that Pakistan would take up the matter and “if they do not block it then we will take action”.
On security in the capital, the minister said Islamabad had 93 entry points and the Red Zone had separate access routes and that police were working to strengthen controls.
He said about 80 per cent of Islamabad police personnel were over 50 years old and an evaluation was under way, adding the government would request the Islamabad High Court to consider the recruitment case.
Investigation
Meanwhile, sources close to the investigation told Dawn that investigators identified the suicide bomber through remains recovered from the blast site and matched his details with the help of Nadra, which helped trace his mother.
The sources said a raid was conducted in Dhok Kalakhan, where the bomber’s mother and three others were picked up. During interrogation, she reportedly told investigators about an Afghan national in Nowshera police custody for staying in Pakistan without valid documents.
The sources said the Afghan was questioned and disclosed a suspected hideout where the bomber had stayed before travelling to Islamabad.
A raid on the location triggered heavy resistance and an exchange of fire that lasted more than an hour, they said, during which an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) from Nowshera police was martyred and three personnel were injured. However, the raiding team detained six alleged facilitators, the sources added.
During questioning, the detainees identified further accomplices and a contact in Karachi. The Karachi suspect was later detained and, according to the sources, acted as a link between members of the group by arranging conference calls. The sources said two more Afghan nationals were also arrested.
Investigators said the bomber had travelled to Afghanistan seven times and wore explosives strapped to his chest and legs. He reportedly travelled from Nowshera to Islamabad on Friday and reached Tarlai via Rawalpindi and Khanna.
Security sources in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said raids were also carried out in Nowshera’s Hakeem Abad area as well as Peshawar’s Chamkani and Charsadda Road localities. They said four suspects were arrested during the operations and confirmed that ASI Ijaz Khattak was martyred during an exchange of fire, while three personnel were injured.
Mourning, tightened security
In Islamabad, funerals and burials were held on Saturday as security was tightened across the capital amid concerns of further attacks, Reuters reported.
Police set up checkpoints on all main roads and streets leading to important sites. Police and elite commandos stood guard as funeral prayers for some of the victims were held in an open area near the Imambargah.
The government had boosted Islamabad’s security and would be taking further steps to make sure it was foolproof, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said. Authorities had made progress in tracking the facilitators of the attackers, without elaborating, he added.
Thousands attended the mass funeral, which ended with mourners beating their chests before stooping to lift 20 coffins and carry them away for burial. Many of the mourners openly wept and cried.
Ashiq Hussain, who lost his 21-year-old nephew Mujtaba Ali in the attack, said the family was broken. “I want to ask what sin this young man had committed that he died a useless death,” he added.
Ajmal Rahbar, a student of COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, said two of his classmates died in the blast. “They were too young to die,” he said.
Prayers were read for a further two victims in the city of Dera Ismail Khan on Saturday.
Sit-in in Quetta
In Quetta, leaders of the Balochistan Shia Conference and other organisations condemned the suicide bombing and described it as a serious failure of security arrangements in the federal capital.
Addressing a presser during a sit-in on Alamdar Road, they demanded comprehensive security for places of worship and called for those responsible and their facilitators to be brought to justice. They said peaceful protests would be held across the country on the instructions of their central leadership.
Muhammad Akbar Notezai in Quetta also contributed to this report
Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2026
