Police say at least 31 people were killed and dozens more wounded in an attack on a Shiite mosque in Pakistan's capital on Friday.
A gunman opened fire at the gates of the mosque in Islamabad on Friday before setting off a suicide bomb in the deadliest attack of its kind in the capital in more than a decade.
The explosion rocked the mosque during Friday prayers, police official Zafar Iqbal said. It happened after guards challenged the attacker at the gate of the mosque, officials said.
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A distraught relative of a victim of a suicide bomb blast that targeted a Shiite mosque in Pakistan's capital Islamabad on February 6. EPA -
Authorities said at least 31 people were killed in the explosion and about 169 wounded. AFP -
Shiite Muslims shout anti-government slogans outside a hospital following the blast. AFP -
Relatives outside a hospital after the blast. AFP -
Distraught relatives of victims. Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari said the attack was 'a crime against humanity'. EPA -
Pakistani security officials inspect the scene of the attack. EPA -
Distraught relatives at the scene. Reuters -
Security services personnel at the scene. Police officials said an attacker was stopped at the gate of the mosque before detonating the bomb. EPA -
Emergency services take a victim of the blast for medical treatment. EPA -
An injured man is moved to hospital after the explosion in Islamabad. AFP
The man blew "himself up in the last row of worshippers", Defence Minister Khawaja Asif wrote on X.
"A total of 31 people have lost their lives. The number of wounded brought to hospitals has risen to 169," Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Irfan Memon said.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack and called for "those responsible to be identified and brought to justice immediately". President Asif Ali Zardari said targeting innocent people was "a crime against humanity", in a statement carried by Pakistani media.
Graphic imagery from the site showed bloodied bodies lying on the carpeted mosque floor. Dozens more injured people were lying in the garden outside the mosque as people called for help.
The attack was the deadliest suicide bombing in Islamabad in more than a decade, according to conflict monitor ACLED. It said the attack "bears the hallmarks" of ISIS, but there has been no claim of responsibility so far.
