At least 31 people were killed in an attack in Pakistan.
02/06/2026, 11:05Feb 6, 2026, 2:22 p.m
A further 170 people were injured in the attack during Friday prayers in a suburb of the Pakistani capital Islamabad, a local official said. According to police reports, it was a suicide attack on a Shiite community center.
The suicide bomber initially opened fire on security forces in front of the building complex, a police spokesman said, citing eyewitnesses. The assassin then detonated an explosive belt in the community center. Despite the great violence in Pakistan’s border regions, attacks in major cities are considered rare.
Videos on social media showed dead and injured people on the ground. Some sat motionless. Many had traces of blood on their clothing and faces, and human limbs were scattered. “We had just started praying when the sound of gunfire caused panic in the mosque,” a survivor told ARY News television. “I ran outside and started crying.”
Worry about even higher numbers of victims
Concerns about an even higher number of victims were high given the many injuries. A spokesman for the rescue services said many were in a life-threatening condition. Ambulances rushed to the scene of the attack. A state of emergency was declared in a clinic in Islamabad, as the Pakistani newspaper “Dawn” reported. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack and ordered the authorities to provide rapid assistance.
The attack brings back memories of the bloody and unrest-filled years in Pakistan between 2007 and 2014, South Asia expert Michael Kugelman wrote on the Larger attacks on Shiites, like today’s horrific explosion, have been rare so far,” he wrote.
Attacks in Pakistan are increasing again
In recent years there has been an increase in violence and attacks in nuclear power Pakistan. Last weekend, dozens of people were killed in fighting between security forces and suspected terrorists at various locations in the troubled Baluchistan province. In other parts of the country, the terrorist militia Islamic State (IS) carried out attacks against Shiites, whom they consider to be apostates from Islam.
Shiite Muslims make up around 20 percent of the South Asian country’s almost 250 million inhabitants. (dab/sda/dpa)