ISLAMABAD: At least one policeman and a civilian were killed and eight others injured after a suicide bomber blew himself at a residential neighborhood of Pakistan’s federal capital, Islamabad, during the snap checking of vehicle, officials said.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant violence in recent weeks, though such incidents have mainly remained confined to the northwestern territories of the country bordering Afghanistan.
Officials in Islamabad have blamed a proscribed militant network, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), for such incidents while urging the interim Taliban administration in the neighboring country not to allow armed groups to use the Afghan soil against other states.
The TTP, whose top leaders are based in Afghanistan, also claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing in Islamabad. The group said it conducted the bombing in revenge for the killing of its senior commander Omar Khalid Khorasani in Afghanistan in August this year.
Policemen collect evidence at the suicide blast site in Islamabad on December 23, 2022. (AFP)
“Two dead people are brought to PIMS [Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences] hospital, including a policeman identified as Adeel Hussain from the blast site,” Dr. Naveed Shaikh, a spokesperson for the medical facility, told Arab News.
He said two injured among the six brought to the hospital were in critical condition.
“All the injured are getting the best medical assistance,” he added.
The Islamabad police earlier said in a statement the security was on high alert in the federal capital and checking was going on when “a suspicious vehicle was stopped for snap checking and a suicide bomber in it blew himself up.”
“According to initial reports, a policeman has been martyred,” the statement confirmed. It informed that a heavy police contingent had also reached the crime scene soon after the incident.
Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Irfan Nawaz Memon said in a statement that eight people, including four policemen, were injured in the blast.
An Islamabad Police spokesperson said the suicide bomber or the driver of the car had wrapped himself up in a shawl, causing investigators to initially think a woman had also been in the car.
The interior ministry, meanwhile, said the car was prepared to hit a “high-value” target in the federal capital.
“Islamabad was saved from a big incident due to the vigilance of the police,” the ministry said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered a detailed report of the incident while paying tributes to the police personnel killed or injured in the blast.
“The nation salutes its valiant police personnel who stopped the terrorists by laying down their life,” he said, adding the battle against militant violence would continue until its end.
Sharif also urged the public to cooperate with the law enforcement agencies in their efforts to eliminate violent extremism.
