Deadly terror attack in Islamabad puts Pakistan in ‘state of war’, says minister

At least 12 people have been killed in a suicide blast in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, as the defence minister said a deadly surge in terror attacks had put the country in a “state of war”.

The explosion, which was described as a suicide attack by several government ministers, took place outside the district court buildings in Islamabad on Tuesday at about 12.30pm. The area is usually heavily crowded with lawyers and litigants attending trials.

The interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, confirmed that 12 people had been killed in the attack and 27 were wounded. Naqvi said the bomber had tried to “enter the court premises but, failing to do so, targeted a police vehicle”

So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack. “We are investigating this incident from different angles. It is not just another bombing,” added Naqvi. Videos of the incident showed a blackened car that had been targeted by the bomber. Witnesses described hearing a loud bang and seeing bodies lying on the floor near the court complex.

“It was complete chaos, lawyers and people were running inside the complex. I saw two dead bodies lying on the gate and several cars were on fire,” Rustam Malik, a lawyer, told

Pakistan is currently experiencing its biggest security crisis in over ten years due to a deadly and destabilizing increase in attacks by Islamist and separatist terrorists.

Hundreds of people have been killed in over 600 insurgent strikes this year by the Pakistan Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), primarily in the Afghanistan-bordering area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Afghan Taliban is accused by Pakistan’s government of providing TTP fighters with armed backing and a safe haven; Kabul disputes this allegation.

Dozens of people were killed in violent skirmishes that broke out along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border last month as a result of the claims. The two nations are still in precarious cease-fire negotiations.

The decades-long separatist conflict in Balochistan, the area that borders Afghanistan and Iran, is also posing a deadly threat to Pakistan. In recent years, Baloch militants, who are fighting for their own state, have carried out dozens of more complex attacks, such as the well-publicized hijacking of a passenger train earlier this year.

Khawaja Asif, the minister of defense, described the suicide attack on Tuesday as a “wake-up call” to the various terror challenges the nation was dealing with.

“We are in a state of war. Anyone who thinks that the Pakistan army is fighting this war in the Afghan-Pakistan border region and the remote areas of Balochistan, today’s suicide attack at the Islamabad district courts is a wake-up call,” he said.

Asif said the suicide attack also put in doubt whether the peace talks with the Afghan Talliban would yield any results. “In this environment, it would be futile to hold out greater hope for successful negotiations with the rulers of Kabul,” he said.