Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Asif said the country was “in a state of war” after a suicide bomber struck outside the Islamabad district courts on Tuesday, killing at least 12 people and injuring 27.
The explosion took place around midday in Islamabad’s G-11 district, just outside the judicial complex where hundreds of lawyers and visitors were present. Interior minister Mohsin Naqvi confirmed that 12 people were killed and 27 wounded. Students and staff were evacuated, and the military said the assault resembled the TTP’s 2014 massacre in Peshawar that killed 154 people.
Police said the attacker tried to enter the court premises but failed, eventually detonating explosives next to a police vehicle, igniting cars and sending a fireball through the street. He said authorities had recovered a severed head believed to be that of the attacker, and CCTV footage captured him moments before the blast. The blast one of the deadliest to hit the capital in recent years has intensified tensions with Afghanistan, with Asif accusing the Taliban government in Kabul of allowing militants to operate freely. Witnesses described scenes of chaos, with people screaming for help as ambulances rushed to the site. Security forces killed two attackers quickly, while others were cornered inside an administrative building.
In a post on X, Asif said: “Anyone who thinks that the Pakistan army is fighting this war in the Afghan-Pakistan border region and the remote areas of Balochistan should take today’s suicide attack at the Islamabad district courts as a wake-up call: This is a war for all of Pakistan. On Monday night, militants also attempted to storm an army-run college in Wana, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.