A suicide bomber has targeted a Shia mosque on the outskirts of Islamabad during Friday prayers, claiming the lives of 31 people and wounding at least 169 others.
The attack marks a rare bombing in Pakistan’s capital, occurring as its Western-allied government struggles to contain a surge in militant assaults nationwide.
Television footage and social media images showed police and residents frantically transporting the injured to nearby hospitals. Some of those caught in the blast at the expansive Khadija Al-Kubra mosque are reported to be in critical condition.
Rescuers and witnesses described a harrowing scene, with bodies and wounded individuals lying across the mosque's carpeted floor. Hussain Shah, who was praying in the mosque courtyard, said he heard a sudden, loud explosion.
