A massive bomb blast ripped through a Shia religious centre on the outskirts of Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, on Friday, killing at least 31 and injuring over 150 others.

The blast, said to be a suicide attack, occurred during the Friday prayers. The Islamabad police have confirmed the blast to be an attack and launched an investigation. Some of the wounded were listed as being in critical condition.

Two police officials told Reuters that the attacker was stopped at the gate of the mosque before detonating the bomb.

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Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/islamabad-blast-death-toll-injured-in-attack-targeting-shia-mosque-friday-prayer-reactions-top-points-101770377319581.html

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KHAR, Pakistan — A powerful bomb ripped through a rally held by supporters of a hard-line cleric and political leader in the country’s northwestern Bajur District that borders Afghanistan on Sunday, police and health officials said. At least 55 people were killed and 135 were wounded in what one official said was a suicide attack.

Senior police officer Nazir Khan told NBC News that the religious political party Jamiat Ulema Islam, run by Maulana Fazlur Rehman, had organized a workers’ convention in the town of Khar, headquarters of the Bajur District, a former tribal area, on Sunday, where the explosion took place.

While Khan said earlier there was “no information about the nature of the blast,” Jalil Jan, a spokesperson for the political party, said it was a suicide attack.

Azam Khan, head of the emergency room at Khar’s main hospital, said previously that 35 bodies had been brought to the hospital, and while some had been released to relatives the number of wounded was more than 100, as those who had earlier been taken to nearby small clinics were later transferred to the main government hospital.

The number of dead and injured ticked up throughout the day. Jan, the party spokesperson, told NBC News the death toll had risen to 55, and that some of the 135 injuries were critical.

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Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/bomb-political-rally-northwest-pakistan-kills-least-35-people-wounds-1-rcna97141

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Most of the casualties were police officers. It was not clear how the bomber was able to slip into the walled compound, which houses the police headquarters in the northwestern city of Peshawar and is itself located in a high-security zone with other government buildings.

Sarbakaf Mohmand, a commander for the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack on Twitter. The main spokesman for the militant group was not immediately available for comment.

Pakistan, which is mostly Sunni Muslim, has seen a surge in militant attacks since November, when the Pakistani Taliban ended their cease-fire with government forces. Monday’s assault on a Sunni mosque was one of the deadliest attacks on security forces in recent years.

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Taliban authorities and hospital sources in Afghanistan said Wednesday that a powerful bomb blast ripped through a packed mosque in the capital, Kabul, during evening prayers, causing dozens of casualties.

Khalid Zadran, a city police spokesman, told VOA that “there are casualties and fatalities” but he would not give further details. Intelligence teams and investigators had arrived at the blast site and investigations were underway, he added.

Multiple sources reported that at least 20 worshippers were killed and many more were wounded in what reportedly was a suicide blast. Maulvi Amir Mohammad Kabuli, a renowned Afghan scholar and preacher of Sufi Islam, was said to be among the dead.

An eyewitness and police officers were quoted as confirming to The Associated Press the deaths of at least 10 people, including Kabuli. Taliban officials did not comment on the casualties.

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Source: https://www.voanews.com/a/afghan-mosque-bombing-causes-dozens-of-casualties-/6705821.html

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