Islamabad: Scary details are emerging about the deadly suicide blast at an imambargah in Islamabad, where worshippers had gathered for Friday prayers.
At least 31 people died, while unconfirmed reports claim the toll could be above 60. Around 130 people were injured.
Minutes before the suicide bomber detonated explosives, the attacker was intercepted by security guards at the mosque’s main gate but managed to detonate himself after running at least 20 metres inside the premises, AFP reported quoting police sources.
Eyewitnesses, however, said that the terrorist was stopped at the main entrance of the imambargah, which is when he started firing.
“He then ran inside at least 20 metres, and as the prayer was underway, he blew himself up,” Geo News cited an eyewitness as saying.
When the attacker first opened fire, several security personnel were injured. He then ran inside the premises and triggered the blast around 20 metres from the gate, Geo News reported.
🚨📢 Suicide attack targets an Imambargah in Islamabad’s Tarlai Kalan area 🇵🇰
Possibly a false flag by Asim Munir to justify an attack on Kabul, aimed at diverting public attention from the success of Op HEROF pic.twitter.com/25oI3nugK3
— 𝗦𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻 𝗛𝗮𝘄𝗸 🦅 (@SaffronHawk) February 6, 2026
Hussain Shah said he was praying in the mosque courtyard when there was a sudden, loud explosion. “I immediately thought that some big attack has happened,” he said, according to an Associated Press report.
Shah said the terrorist then entered the mosque amid chaotic scenes as many of the wounded screamed and cried out for help. Shah said he counted around 30 bodies inside the mosque, while the number of wounded was significantly higher.
So massive was the explosion that windows of the three-storeyed Imambargah and nearby residential buildings were shattered.
Adults and children, many of them in blood-soaked clothes, were rushed to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS).