A suicide bomber killed at least 31 people and wounded almost 170 others during Friday prayers in a Shiite Muslim mosque in Islamabad, officials said, in the deadliest attack of its kind in the capital in over a decade.
Images from the site showed bloodied bodies lying on the carpeted mosque floor surrounded by shards of glass, debris and panicked worshippers, Reuters reported.
Dozens more wounded were lying in the gardens of the Khadija Tul Kubra Imambargah, in a semi-urban area on the outskirts of Islamabad, as people called for help.
Two police officials said the attacker was stopped at the gate of the mosque before detonating the bomb. They asked not to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
Bombings are rare in the heavily guarded capital, although Pakistan has been hit by a rising wave of militancy in the past few years, particularly along the border with Afghanistan.
"A total of 31 people have lost their lives. The number of wounded brought to hospitals has risen to 169," Islamabad's Deputy Commissioner, Irfan Memon, said in a statement.
The attack was the deadliest suicide bombing in Islamabad in more than a decade, according to conflict monitor ACLED, which said it "bears the hallmarks of ISIS".
"We are giving every possible help to the families of those killed and those injured. We are doing everything possible to extend all the facilities they need," parliamentary affairs minister Tariq Fazal said after visiting the wounded at Islamabad's Polyclinic hospital.
The capital was already on high alert on Friday for the visiting President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, with roads around the capital blocked by checkpoints and security forces posted across the city.
