At least 31 people were killed and 169 injured in a suicide bombing at Imambargah Khadijah-tul-Kubra in the Tarlai area of Islamabad during Friday prayers, authorities said. The explosion left bodies and wounded worshippers inside the imambargah and in the surrounding garden, prompting a major emergency response from rescue and medical teams.
Defence officials claimed the attacker had travelled to Afghanistan multiple times, and suggested foreign involvement in the strike, while Interior Ministry sources said the bomber was a Pakistani national radicalised abroad. Security forces have sealed the blast site and hospitals in Islamabad and Rawalpindi have been placed on high alert as investigations continue. Senior federal and provincial leaders, including the President and Prime Minister, condemned the attack and vowed to bring perpetrators to justice as the nation mourns the loss of civilians at a place of worship.