An explosion has killed at least 12 people and injured several others outside a court building in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, police say, reports Al Jazeera.
The blast occurred on Tuesday near the entrance of Islamabad district court, which is typically crowded with a large number of people.
As official probe the scene, no group has yet to claim responsibility for any attack. However, similar blasts have been carried out armed groups, including the Pakistan Taliban (Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan or TTP).
Local media showed gory pictures of the site, with bloodied individuals lying near a police van.
“We are probing what kind of blast it was. It is not clear yet. We will be able to provide more details after we get a report from our forensic team,” a police spokesperson said.
The blast came hours after Pakistani security forces said they thwarted an overnight attack by armed combatants to storm a cadet college in Wana in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the border with Afghanistan.
Pakistani authorities said that attack involved a suicide car bomber and five other militants, and targeted an area that until recently used to be a base for the TTP, al-Qaeda and other armed groups.
The blast in Islamabad comes a day after a major explosion rocked neighbouring India’s capital of New Delhi.
Indian police have invoked “anti-terror” laws as they probe the blast, which involved a vehicle near the Red Fort landmark, and killed 13 people.
Bd-pratidin English/TR
