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07-02-2026
By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD/ KARACHI: Pakistan’s military says it has arrested four “facilitators” who helped the attacker in Friday’s deadly Islamabad mosque bombing as authorities intensify a security crackdown amid rising concerns over cross-border attacks.
Thousands of mourners gathered in the capital on Saturday to bury the victims of the attack, which martyred at least 32 worshippers and injured over 170 others, officials said.
The military said on Saturday that a “major breakthrough has been made in the investigation into the Trilai Kalan Islamabad suicide attack, with intelligence and law enforcement agencies conducting raids and making arrests in Peshawar and Nowshera”.
It said that the operations, based on technical and human intelligence, led to the arrest of “four facilitators of the suicide attacker, as well as the Afghan Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) mastermind behind the attack”.
The military alleged that the “planning, training, and indoctrination for the attack took place in Afghanistan”, adding that under “Afghan Taliban patronage, extremist groups continue to pose a serious threat to regional and global peace”.
Earlier in the day, police said “two brothers and a woman” were arrested during a raid on what they described as the alleged suicide bomber’s hideout.
Friday’s powerful explosion struck the Khadija Tul Kubra Shia mosque in the Tarlai Kalan area on the outskirts of Islamabad. The ISIL armed group claimed responsibility.
The attack was the deadliest in Islamabad since September 2008, when a suicide truck bomb martyred more than 60 people and destroyed part of the five-star Marriott Hotel. While bombings are rare in the heavily guarded capital, this is the second such attack in three months, raising fears of a return to violence in Pakistan’s major urban centres.
Citizens decry ‘security lapse’
A senior journalist Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, told PMI that innocent civilians are being targeted.
“They say this is a lapse of security that the authorities knew very well that there was an imminent threat, given the fact that intelligence-based operations are going on in Balochistan and in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.”
Hyder added that this was not the first attack by ISIL. “In 2017, ISIL attacked a shrine in Pakistan, martyring over 90 people and wounding hundreds. They have carried out attacks not just in Pakistan, but also in Moscow a few years ago, and in Kermanshah, Iran, during commemorations of the martyrdom of Qassem Soleimani. It should be understood that ISIL has been a regional threat, and Pakistan stresses that neighbouring countries and the region must take this threat seriously,” he reported.
Government promises justice, pledges unity against ‘terrorism’
Pakistan’s leaders have pledged justice and unity following the deadly attack. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the country was committed to combating “terrorism” and standing united.
“The perpetrators of this heinous crime will be brought to justice with full force, and their nefarious designs will never be allowed to succeed,” he wrote on social media.
President Asif Ali Zardari acknowledged the global messages of condolence and solidarity in reinforcing the nation’s commitment to peace and unity.
Pakistan blames ‘India-backed proxies’ for attack
Pakistani leaders blamed India for the attack, with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi saying Pakistan had “shared evidence with neighboring countries showing that terrorism in Pakistan is sponsored by India”.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif added on social media that the bomber had a history of “travelling to Afghanistan” and accused India of sponsoring the assault, saying the attackers were paid in dollars rather than acting for religion.
India, however, termed the accusation “baseless and pointless,” with the Ministry of External Affairs saying in a statement that while it condemned the attack and offered condolences to the victims, “it is unfortunate that instead of seriously addressing the problems plaguing its social fabric, Pakistan should choose to delude itself by blaming others for its homegrown ills”.
