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At least 12 people were killed and 27 others injured on Thursday in a suicide attack outside a court complex in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, according to Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi.
The explosion occurred in the parking area of the Judicial Complex. “The suicide bomber targeted a police vehicle as he couldn't enter the complex,” Naqvi told reporters at the blast site. Efforts are underway to identify the attacker, he added.
Security sources said the bodies of the 12 victims, most of them civilians, were taken to a local hospital, while others were transferred for emergency treatment. Police and emergency teams cordoned off the area and launched an investigation.
President Asif Zardari condemned the explosion, saying “foreign-sponsored” terrorists operating in Pakistan must be eliminated.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also denounced the attack, accusing India of “spreading terrorism in the region through its proxies.”
“The time has come for the world to condemn such nefarious conspiracies of India,” Sharif said, claiming the attacks were “carried out from Afghan soil with Indian backing.”
There was no immediate reaction from New Delhi, which has denied such accusations in the past.
The Afghan interim Foreign Ministry expressed “deep sorrow and condemnation” over the explosion in Islamabad and another attack in Wana, northwestern Pakistan.
Security sources said forces were engaged in an operation against three militants hiding inside a building at Wana Cadet College in South Waziristan. About 500 cadets are housed in a hostel on the campus, located away from the building where the militants are holed up.
Naqvi said three people had been killed in the operation so far.
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