Suicide Blast Near Islamabad Court Kills 12; Pakistan Blames Afghanistan Amid Rising Cross-Border Tensions
A suicide bomber has detonated a bomb near a court building in Islamabad, killing at least 12 people, Pakistan’s interior minister says.
Aadrika Tayal 
New Delhi (India) November 11: AAt least 12 persons were killed and over 25 wounded, most of them lawyers, in a powerful explosion explosion that rocked a car parked near the Islamabad judicial complex on Tuesday, Pakistani media reports said. It occurred in a parked vehicle, with Pakistani officials calling it a suicide attack.
Deadly Explosion at Judicial Complex
The explosion took place at about 12.30 pm when the court building was crowded with hundreds of lawyers during peak working hours, near the Islamabad district court's entrance, causing panic among those present there. The blast was so powerful it could be heard up to six kilometers away. The explosion also damaged several nearby parked cars. Most of the wounded are lawyers and court staff. Police believe it is a suicide bombing.
Pakistan Points Finger at Afghanistan
Pakistan's defence minister Khawaja Asif Asif accused Afghanistan of the blast, saying that country was in a "state of war".
Asif said, "We are in a state of war. Anyone who thinks the Pakistan army is fighting this only in the Afghan-Pakistan border region or Balochistan should take the suicide attack at Islamabad district courts as a wake-up call. This is a war for all of Pakistan, where the Army is making daily sacrifices to keep people secure," in a post on social media platform X.
No Claim of Responsibility Yet
No group or individual immediately took responsibility for the blast but it occurred a day after Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban’s third round of talks ended without any agreement about terrorism emanating from Afghanistan.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi went to the scene of the blast and promised that those responsible would be caught.
Regional Security Concerns
The explosion in Islamabad came hours after Pakistani security forces announced that they had repelled an overnight attack by militants who attempted to storm a cadet college in Wana, the troubled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the Afghan border.
The attack was carried out by a suicide car bomber and five others in an area that had until recently been home to the Pakistan Taliban, al-Qaeda and other armed groups, officials said.
Terror Strikes Back-to-Back
The explosion in Islamabad follows the detonation of a car, a Hyundai i20, less than 24 hours earlier near the Red Fort in Delhi that left at least 10 dead.
The blast took place on a day when a terror module of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Ansar Ghazwatul Hind was busted, and police seized 2,900 kg IED-making material.
