 "Forensic experts examine a car after a suicide blast outside the district court in Islamabad, which killed at least 12 people. AFP")
The hustle and bustle in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, came to a screeching halt on Tuesday (November 11) when a blast occurred outside the judicial complex housing the Islamabad district and sessions courts. Twelve people have died and more than 20 others have been injured in the blast — making it the worst suicide attack to rock the city in nearly two decades.
A splinter group of the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), claimed responsibility for the attack, which has prompted very strong reactions from Pakistan’s leadership.
Interestingly, shortly after the explosion ripped the Pakistani capital, the government pointed fingers at India without providing any evidence.
As Pakistan continues to reel from the suicide attack, we take a closer look at what exactly happened.
Where did the blast take place?
On Tuesday (November 11), at 12.30 pm, local time, an explosion took place right outside Islamabad’s District Judicial Complex. This location is highly crowded as it draws in thousands of litigants and lawyers on a daily basis. Moreover, important government buildings such as Parliament, Supreme Court and offices of the president and prime minister are just 15 kilometres away.
The police revealed that a lone bomber blew himself up at the main entrance to the complex, located in the G-11 sector, after failing in repeated attempts to enter the premises.
Mohsin Naqvi, Pakistan’s interior minister, has revealed that CCTV footage shows a man loitering around the courts right before the explosion. “He was waiting, but when the police car approached that’s when he carried out the attack,” Naqvi told reporters on Tuesday. “Everyone who enters the court is checked by security and since he was unable to do so, he attacked the police car. We have all the CCTV footage.”
Investigators are now trying to ascertain how the bomber made his way to the court premises. As of now, police officials are working on the premise that he came from outside Islamabad. Pakistani newspaper, Dawn, reports that the bomber arrived in Islamabad on Friday and travelled from Pir Wadhai to the judicial complex on a motorcycle while wearing a shawl. Investigators have collected about 92 CCTV recordings with the help of artificial intelligence during the initial inquiry.
The explosive used in the attack weighs roughly four to five kilogrammes, say authorities, adding it was packed with ball bearings.
Officials note that this is the deadliest suicide attack in the Pakistani capital in recent times. The last major attack took place in September 2008 when a huge truck destroyed the Marriott Hotel, killing more than 50 people.
What did eyewitnesses see at the blast site?
Lawyers and litigants who were present at the blast site in Islamabad recount the moment when the explosion occurred. One lawyer, who was parking his car at the time of the attack, told AFP that he heard a “loud bang”.
“Lawyers and people were running inside the complex,” he said. “I saw two dead bodies lying on the gate and several cars were on fire.”
Another lawyer at the scene, Mohammed Shahzad Butt, told AFP that there was a “massive blast”, adding: “Everyone started running inside out of panic. I have seen at least five dead bodies lying at the front gate.”
Raja Aleem Abbasi, a member of the Islamabad Bar Council, was taking a break in the main courtyard when the blast shook the compound. “It was a deafening blast, and complete chaos and panic set in. As we regained composure, I saw the head of the suicide bomber, which had flown from outside, rolling just in front of me, merely a few feet away,” a shaken Abbasi told Al Jazeera.
Who’s behind the blast?
Following the suicide blast, the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), a breakaway of the TTP, has claimed responsibility for the attack. According to the UN Security Council, this group was formed in August 2014 and functions out of Lalpura, Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan.
Notably, the JuA has been responsible for several attacks in Pakistan, targeting civilians, religious minorities, military personnel, and law enforcement. In August 2015, JuA claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Punjab, Pakistan that killed Punjab Home Minister Shuja Khanzada and 18 of his supporters.
JuA was also responsible for the killing of two Pakistani employees of the US Consulate in Peshawar in early March 2016. In late March 2016, JuA carried out the suicide assault at the Gulshan-e-Iqbal amusement park in Lahore, Pakistan, that killed more than 70 people — nearly half of them women and children — and injured hundreds more.
While the JuA claimed to be behind this attack, its parent group, the TTP denied any role.
How has Pakistan reacted to the blast?
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has vowed that the culprits behind the attack on Tuesday in Islamabad will have to face the consequences. “We will go with complete evidence and details. Whoever is involved in this, whether locals or foreigners, we will not spare anyone,” the minister vowed, affirming that the state will not remain quiet on the matter. “We have a clear message that whoever did this will bear the consequences.”
Pakistani’s Defence Minister Khwaja Asif pointed fingers at Afghanistan — with whom the country has had strained relations recently — writing on X that Pakistan is in a “state of war” and that this attack should be taken as a “wake-up call” with regards to negotiations with neighbouring Afghanistan.
“The rulers of Kabul can stop terrorism in Pakistan, but bringing this war all the way to Islamabad is a message from Kabul, to which — praise be to God — Pakistan has the full strength to respond,” the Pakistani defence minister added.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif went one step further and blamed “India’s terrorist proxies” for the attack, claiming that other recent attacks in the country were “being carried out from Afghan soil and backed by India.” He, however, provided no proof to support his claims.
The allegation against India comes as Pakistan and Afghanistan’s relations come close to a breaking point. New Delhi, on the other hand, has strengthened its diplomatic and strategic ties with the Taliban-led government in Kabul.
Additionally, Islamabad has historically accused New Delhi of stoking unrest in Balochistan, and has more recently alleged Indian support for the TTP, a claim that India firmly rejects.
What is India’s response?
However, New Delhi has firmly rejected the claims made by Pakistan’s prime minister, calling the remarks “baseless and unfounded”.
Responding to the media’s query on Pakistan’s claim, the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said: “India unequivocally rejects the baseless and unfounded allegations being made by an obviously delirious Pakistani leadership. It is a predictable tactic by Pakistan to concoct false narratives against India in order to deflect the attention of its own public from the ongoing military-inspired constitutional subversion and power-grab unfolding within the country. The international community is well aware of the reality and will not be misled by Pakistan’s desperate diversionary ploys.”
With inputs from agencies