ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Punjab province has ordered an immediate tightening of security after a deadly suicide bombing outside a court in the capital Islamabad this week killed at least 12 people and wounded more than 30, a government notification said.

The attack at the court, located on the edge of the city and next to a residential area, has raised alarms that despite multiple operations by security forces to crush the militants, they are still capable of mounting high-profile bombings in the Pakistani capital. Authorities have struggled with a surge in militant attacks across the country in recent years but until Tuesday’s bombing, Islamabad has largely been considered a safer place.

Hours after the blast on Tuesday, the Punjab provincial home department directed police and counterterrorism officials to enhance security at key sites and in major cities, including Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Multan. 

“This cowardly act of terrorism [in Islamabad], occurring so close to our provincial borders, underscores the persistent and evolving threat being posed by extremist elements and necessitates an immediate, proactive security response throughout the province,” said a notification circulated on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Federal Interior Minister and Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Mohsin Naqvi on Wednesday visited the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, where Pakistan is hosting Sri Lanka for a Test match, to review arrangements and assure that the visiting team was receiving full protection. 

Rawalpindi, which borders Islamabad and is one of Punjab province’s largest cities, serves as the administrative twin of the federal capital.

“The Sri Lankan team has been accorded the status of State Guests and their security will be ensured at all costs,” Naqvi was quoted as saying in a statement released by his office. “Maintaining peace and stability along with promoting sports and other activities is a collective goal.”

The two developments, the Punjab alert and the minister’s visit, reflect stepped-up vigilance following the Islamabad bombing, which authorities blamed on the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Islamabad says the group is operating from bases in Afghanistan, a charge Kabul denies.

Sri Lanka’s cricket team, playing in Rawalpindi for the first time since 2019, is under tight protection due to security sensitivities. The country’s team was attacked in Lahore in 2009, an incident that kept international cricket away from Pakistan for nearly a decade.

Islamabad is also currently hosting an international speakers’ conference attended by parliamentary delegations from multiple countries, while the National Assembly is in session to debate the landmark 27th constitutional amendment. The timing has amplified government focus on maintaining order and reassuring foreign participants amid renewed militant threats.

While most militant attacks in recent years have occurred in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, both of which border Afghanistan, Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous and richest province, has witnessed major incidents in the past, prompting fresh precautionary measures after Tuesday’s blast.