Bhubaneswar: A day after a blast near Red Fort Metro Station in Delhi, at least 12 people were killed and several others were injured in an explosion outside a court building in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad on Tuesday afternoon.
According to reports, the blast occurred near the entrance of Islamabad district court, which usually bustles with visitors. Those injured were mostly people who had arrived at the court for hearings. Several vehicles parked outside the court were also damaged.
Local media suggested that a gas cylinder might have exploded inside a car in the courthouse parking lot. “We are probing what kind of blast it was. It is not clear yet. We will be able to provide more details after we get a report from our forensic team,” Al Jazeera reported, quoting a police spokesperson.
A security source in Pakistan told CNN that the explosion is being investigated as a suicide attack.
Reports further noted that the blast took place just hours after Pakistani security forces foiled an overnight attack by militants to storm a cadet college in Wana in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, near the Afghan border.
NIA to take over Delhi blast probe
Meanwhile in Delhi, the Centre decided to hand over the case to the National Investigation Agency following a high-level security review meeting chaired by the Union Home Minister Amit Shah this morning at his residence. Shah will hold another security review meeting shortly, news agency PTI said citing sources.
The blast near the Red Fort left 13 people dead and 20 injured on Monday evening.
According to Delhi Police, a slow-moving vehicle stopped at a red light near Red Fort minutes before the blast. “At around 6.52 pm, a slow-moving vehicle stopped at the red light. An explosion happened in that vehicle, and due to the explosion, nearby vehicles were also damaged,” Police commissioner Satish Golcha told reporters.
The man driving the car has been identified as Umar Mohammad, a Pulwama resident and a doctor who also had links to the Faridabad terror module where huge cache of explosive material was seized, Delhi Police sources said, adding that ammonium nitrate, fuel oil and detonators may have been used in the blast.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a two-day Bhutan visit, said: “India’s investigation agencies are joining the links in the Delhi blast case. All those responsible will be brought to justice. Our agencies will dig deep into the matter.”