IS-KP Claims Responsibility for Deadliest Islamabad Attack Since 2008
By Arshad Mehmood/The Media Line
The Islamic State Khorasan Province (IS-KP) has claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a mosque in Islamabad during Friday prayers, which left 31 Shia worshippers dead and at least 170 critically injured.
Several media outlets, citing IS-KP’s Instagram-based media channel Amaq, reported that Saifullah Ansari was identified as the suicide bomber who carried out the attack on the Tarlai Kalan mosque in Pakistan’s federal capital.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s federal interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, confirmed at a press conference in Islamabad on Saturday that four suspects, including the mastermind behind the mosque bombing, were taken into custody the night before.
Providing details of the post-attack developments, Naqvi said that raids were conducted in Peshawar and Nowshera immediately after the blast, resulting in the arrest of four facilitators.
Naqvi highlighted that the IS-KP mastermind, who hails from Afghanistan, has also been arrested.
According to the interior minister, the planning and training for the entire attack were carried out by IS-KP on Afghan soil.
“Crossfire during the critical operation to seize the mastermind and their helpers resulted in the death of one police officer and injuries to three others,” security sources told The Media Line.
The collective funeral prayer for the victims of the devastating mosque bombing was held on Saturday. Thousands of people from all sects participated in the funeral prayer.
The Friday attack is being called the deadliest in Islamabad since the 2008 Marriott Hotel bombing, emphasizing the scale and brutality of the tragedy.
Pakistan has long accused Afghanistan of harboring militant groups and India of backing their cross-border attacks on civilians and security forces, allegations that both Kabul and New Delhi have consistently denied.
Just two days before the incident, Alexandre Zuev, acting undersecretary-general of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, cautioned that the IS-KP in Afghanistan continues to pose a major threat to both regional and global security, even though attacks within the country have declined.
He briefed the UN Security Council on Wednesday, Feb. 4, stating that the group is constantly adapting and rebuilding its networks, leveraging online recruitment and modern technology.
He shared the latest UN report on the group’s worldwide operations, warning that the threat from IS-KP and its affiliates has “steadily increased” over the past year and grown more complex.
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