Islamabad, Pakistan – Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has blamed India for the suicide attack that struck outside the district and sessions court building in Islamabad on Tuesday afternoon. Suicide attack at court complex kills 12, injures more than 30, a day after a deadly explosion in the Indian capital.
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Terror Strikes Rock Pakistan Amid Islamabad Blast, Waziristan Siege
A suicide blast rocked Islamabad while the city hosted international conferences and nearby sporting events. The explosion occurred just 10 km from Rawalpindi, where the Sri Lankan cricket team was playing an ODI match. The attack marked a sharp rise in violence as the military focused on rescuing hundreds of cadets from militants at Cadet College in South Waziristan’s Wana district. The assault began a day earlier when an explosives-laden car rammed the college gate. Security forces have rescued at least 300 cadets and continue operations to free the remaining hostages. On Tuesday, another bomb blast in Dera Ismail Khan injured 14 security personnel, further escalating tensions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
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Where did the blast happen?
The suicide bomber struck after 12:30pm (07:30 GMT) at the entrance of the District Judicial Complex on Srinagar Highway, one of Islamabad’s main arteries. Opened three years ago, the complex handles thousands of litigants and draws large numbers of lawyers daily. The complex has several gates, with a side entrance used primarily by judges and a main gate for litigants. Key political and civic institutions – the Parliament, Supreme Court, and the offices of the president and prime minister – are about 15km (9 miles) away. The Jamaa-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway faction of the Pakistan Taliban (TTP) armed group, claimed responsibility for the attack. However, the TTP, an ideological ally of the Afghan Taliban, denied any role in the Islamabad attack.
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