Islamabad, Pakistan – Thousands of people on Saturday attended the funeral of 31 people killed in a suicide bombing that targeted a Shiite mosque in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad,
during Friday prayers, in an attack described as the deadliest in the city in more than a decade.
The attack occurred on Friday evening when a gunman opened fire inside the Khadija Grand Mosque
and Husseiniya complex on the outskirts of the capital,
before blowing himself up with an explosive belt, killing himself and 31 others,
in addition to injuring more than 170 others, some of whom are in critical condition.
wave of violence and extremism
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on the Telegram app,
at a time when Islamabad, one of the most heavily fortified cities in the country, rarely experiences attacks of this kind.
This is the second bombing of its kind in the capital in three months,
raising fears of a return of violence and extremism to major Pakistani cities.
Pakistani authorities tightened security measures across the capital, setting up intensive checkpoints on main roads,
and deploying police and special forces to secure the funeral prayer held in an open square near the site of the attack.
Escalating security challenges
Information Minister Attaullah Trar said the government had strengthened security measures
and would take further steps to ensure the capital was fully fortified,
noting progress in tracking down those involved in facilitating the attack, without disclosing further details.
In the same context, security forces carried out raids in the cities of Peshawar and Nowshera,
resulting in the arrest of four people suspected of being linked to the attack,
according to security sources, who confirmed that operations are still ongoing.
Shiites are a minority in predominantly Sunni Pakistan,
and have previously been subjected to bloody sectarian attacks by extremist groups,
including the Islamic State and the Pakistani Taliban, amid escalating security challenges facing the country.
