Suicide bombing outside Islamabad court kills 12
ISLAMABAD — Pakistani authorities on Wednesday launched an investigation into a suicide bombing that ripped through the area outside a district court on the outskirts of Islamabad the previous day, killing 12 people and wounding 27. The blast, which occurred adjacent to a residential neighborhood, underscored concerns that militants remain capable of staging high-profile attacks in the capital despite repeated security operations.
Investigation and scene
Forensic teams and police sealed the blast site and were combing through debris to preserve evidence. Across the city, relatives collected the bodies of the victims at an Islamabad hospital, and funeral prayers were held for several of the slain. Officials said most of the 27 people wounded in the explosion had been treated and discharged.
Official statements and disputed accusations
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said investigators were "looking into all aspects" of the attack but, in immediate remarks after the bombing, accused "Indian-backed elements and Afghan Taliban proxies" linked to the Pakistani Taliban of carrying out the strike. He offered no public evidence for those allegations. Both India and Afghanistan's Taliban-led government rejected Pakistan's accusations.
Naqvi also pointed to the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as a suspect. The TTP denied responsibility. A breakaway faction, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, initially claimed the attack but one of its commanders later contradicted that claim, adding to confusion and highlighting factional divisions among militant groups in the region.
Context: Jamaat-ul-Ahrar split from the TTP after its leader’s 2022 death in Afghanistan; some members have since rejoined the TTP while others remain independent, reflecting deep fractures within Pakistan’s militant networks.
Separate attack on cadet college in Wana
Separately, late Monday night militants attacked an army-run cadet college in Wana, a northwestern city. Police said four attackers — including a suicide car bomber — were killed. Troops evacuated more than 600 people, including 525 cadets, teachers and staff. Officials said the assault began when a vehicle laden with explosives struck the college gate; soldiers fanned out across the campus to prevent attackers from reaching dormitories and other sheltered areas.
Television footage showed soldiers evacuating students using ladders and breaking windows to reach dormitories; evacuees were later moved to safety in armored vehicles. No group has definitively taken responsibility for the Wana attack. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar warned the assault appeared to be an attempted reprise of the 2014 Peshawar school massacre, when a breakaway TTP faction killed 154 people, mostly children, at an army-run school.
Regional tensions and diplomatic fallout
Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have risen in recent weeks after Kabul accused Islamabad of conducting drone strikes on Oct. 9 that killed several people in the Afghan capital. Those strikes sparked cross-border clashes that left dozens of soldiers, militants and civilians dead before Qatar brokered a cease-fire on Oct. 19. Two follow-up talks in Istanbul produced no breakthrough after Afghan officials declined to provide written assurances that militants would not use Afghan soil to stage attacks in Pakistan.
Pakistan has long accused the Afghan Taliban of sheltering TTP leaders and fighters — a claim Kabul denies. The TTP, allied with but separate from the Afghan Taliban, has reportedly been emboldened since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.
Amid heightened strain with both Afghanistan and India, Kabul and New Delhi have moved closer diplomatically: India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met acting Afghan Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi in September, and India recently announced its technical mission in Kabul would be upgraded to a full embassy, marking a significant step in ties with the Taliban-led government.
International response and next steps
The Islamabad bombing drew widespread international condemnation. Pakistani investigators said they would examine forensic evidence, eyewitness accounts and security footage as they work to determine responsibility and motive. Authorities emphasized the investigation is ongoing and that they will pursue all credible leads.
Associated Press reporting contributed to this account.
