Suicide bomb outside Pakistan court kills at least 12, interior minister says

A suicide bomber attacked Pakistan’s capital city on Tuesday, killing at least 12 people and injuring several others, the country’s interior minister said.

The explosives were detonated near a police vehicle outside the gate of Islamabad’s High Court on Tuesday afternoon, a time when the area is typically crowded with hundreds of high-ranking government officials as well as visitors attending hearings.

Mohsin Naqvi, Pakistan’s interior minister, has said the attacker tried to “enter the court premises but, failing to do so, targeted a police vehicle.”

He added that authorities are “looking into all aspects” of the attack.

Naqvi did not blame any militant group. He said authorities have confirmed the explosion was caused by a suicide bomber.

The blast was heard miles away and also damaged several vehicles outside the court.

Islamabad requires a high level of security to enter and exit the city, with specific security zones throughout the capital.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack.

A statement released to ITV News’ US partner CNN by a security source claimed it was carried out by militants associated with the Afghan Taliban and India.

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif stated on X that Pakistan is in a “state of war” and that this attack should be taken as a “wake-up call” with regards to negotiations with Afghanistan.

Pakistan has faced a surge in Islamist violence since the Afghan Taliban swept Kabul in 2021.

Islamabad has long accused Kabul of harbouring the Pakistani Taliban militant group (known as the TTP), which its Afghan namesake denies.

Clashes between the Pakistani and Afghan militaries in October saw the worst violence between the two countries in years.

The attack comes less than a day after a cadet college was attacked by militants in Wana, a city in northwestern Pakistan.

Pakistani security forces said they foiled an attempt by militants to take hostages from an army-run college overnight, when a suicide car bomber and five other attackers targeted the facility.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif denounced both the attack in Islamabad and in Wana, and called for a full investigation.

Sharif described attacks on unarmed civilians as “reprehensible”, adding, “We will not allow the blood of innocent Pakistanis to go to waste.”

“We will ensure the perpetrators are apprehended and held accountable,” Sharif said.