Islamabad: A suicide bomber on Tuesday detonated his explosives near a police vehicle outside a court in Pakistan’s capital, killing at least 12 people and wounding 27 others, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said.
Naqvi, who visited the site of the blast, said the attacker wanted to enter the court complex, but on failure, he detonated his explosives near a police vehicle at the gate of the building in the G-11 area of the capital at 12.39 pm (local time).
The minister said that 12 people were killed and 27 others injured, including security personnel and a lawyer, in the blast near the Islamabad District Judicial Complex.
“At 12:39 pm, a suicide attack was carried out at the Kachehri (district courts)… so far 12 people have been martyred and around 27 are wounded,” Naqvi said.
No group or individual claimed responsibility for the blast, but the attack came days after the third round of talks between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban failed to reach any agreement.
Videos showed scenes of panic as a car could be seen in flames soon after the explosion.
Preliminary investigations suggest the attacker detonated the explosive vest near the main entrance during peak crowd hours.
Security agencies have cordoned off the area, and a high alert has been issued across Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
No group has claimed responsibility yet, but officials suspect involvement of TTP or its allied faction.
This comes a day after a powerful explosion ripped through a slow-moving car at a traffic signal near the Red Fort Metro Station in New Delhi on Monday evening.
Till last night, nine people were confirmed to have died in the blast, and 20 others were injured.
Three more people succumbed to injuries, taking the toll to 12, news agency PTI quoted the police as saying.
Later, speaking in Bhutan’s Thimpu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the conspirators of the Delhi blast will not be spared as the probe agencies will get to the bottom of the case.
The police took the mother of the man who was suspected to be driving the car that exploded near the Red Fort for a DNA test in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir.
