Pakistani security forces searched multiple locations and arrested four suspects, including the alleged mastermind, behind a suicide bombing attack on a Shiite mosque on the outskirts of the capital in which 31 people died, the Minister of the Interior said on Saturday.

Mohsin Naqvi’s announcement came a day after the regional branch of the IS group, which identifies itself as the Islamic State in Pakistan, claimed responsibility in a statement carried by the Amaq news agency. The statement said the gunman on Friday opened fire on security guards who tried to stop him at the main gate before detonating his explosive vest after reaching the mosque’s inner gate.

One hundred and sixty-nine people were wounded in the bombing. In the photos from the scene, children are among the victims. A local security official said the mosque was packed with people attending Friday prayers. Zahir Hussain told CBS News that he was parking to enter the mosque when a powerful explosion threw him into the car door.

After that, there was a terrible silence for a while, and then what I saw in the mosque, I have no words to explain it, Hussain said.

It was the deadliest such incident in Islamabad since 2008, when a suicide attack on the Marriott Hotel killed 63 people and wounded more than 250. In November, a suicide bomber attacked outside a courthouse in the capital, killing 12 people.

Pakistan arrests suspects in attack

Naqvi described the suspected mastermind of the bombing as an Afghan with links to IS. He claimed that the attack was planned and that the bomber trained in Afghanistan with financial support from India – claims for which he did not provide immediate evidence. There was no immediate comment from New Delhi and Kabul.

Naqvi also alleged that several militant groups were operating from Afghan territory to launch attacks on Pakistan and urged the international community to take note, warning that instability could spread beyond the region.

Speaking about public concern over security lapses, he said: “If one explosion occurs, 99 others will also be prevented.”

The terror group suggested it viewed Pakistani Shiites as legitimate targets, calling them a “reservoir of people” that provided recruits for Shiite militias fighting Islamic State in Syria.

Funerals for the victims

Earlier, more than 2,000 mourners gathered as the coffins of those killed were brought to the same mosque for the funerals of a dozen victims, who were joined by Shia community leaders and senior government officials. The funerals of the other victims were to be held in their hometowns.

IS is a Sunni group that has targeted Pakistan’s Shia minority in the past, apparently seeking to fuel sectarian divisions in the majority-Sunni country. In 2022, it claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that hit a Shiite Muslim mosque in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, killing at least 56 and injuring 194.

Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif told reporters on Friday that the attack signaled that Pakistani militants operating from Afghanistan could attack even in the capital. His remarks provoked a sharp response from the Afghan Taliban government.

In a statement, Afghanistan’s defense ministry condemned the attack on a mosque in Islamabad, but said Pakistan’s defense minister had “irresponsibly” linked it to Afghanistan. Pakistan has often blamed Afghanistan, where it is The Taliban returned to power in August 2021 of harboring militants, including members of the Pakistani Taliban. Kabul denies the allegations.

The attack drew international condemnation

The attack drew condemnation from the wider international community, including the United States, Russia and the European Union.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he was grateful for the messages of condolence and support he had received “from all over the world” following what he called the “heartbreaking suicide attack in Islamabad”. He said international support remained crucial to Pakistan’s counter-terrorism efforts and promised that the perpetrators would be brought to justice.

Although Pakistan’s capital has seen relatively few attacks compared to other regions, the country has recently seen a surge in militant violence. Much of this has been blamed on Baloch separatists and the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, which is a separate group but allied with the Afghan Taliban.