Islamabad: At least 31 people were killed and 169 injured in a major explosion at the Tarlai Imambargah in Shehzad town near Islamabad on Friday. The incident occurred as people gathered for prayers. Authorities called it a suicide attack as per local media.
An Imambargah is a place of mourning where Shia Muslims gather to commemorate the Karbala tragedy.
Videos from the site showed severed limbs strewn all across. Security personnel were also seen cordoning off
the area, even as senior officials and forensics teams arrived. Locals were seen looking for families at the carnage site.
After initial chaos, authorities reacted and shifted the injured to hospitals. Reuters has quoted a police official as saying that several people were shifted to hospital. He said that people had died, but was unable to state a figure.
The Express Tribune quoted a spokesperson of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences as saying that an emergency has been declared at the hospital with doctors doing their best to save lives.
This is the second blast in the Pakistani capital in six months. In November 2025, blast in a parked car at the Islamabad court complex had killed 12 people and injured 25.
Authorities had called that a suicide attack as well, with Pakistani defence minister Khawaja Asif blaming Afghanistan for the blast.