ISLAMABAD: Lawyers in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad on Wednesday expressed solidarity with the victims of a deadly suicide bombing outside a court building a day earlier, calling for an end to the fear atmosphere in the country.
The blast, which killed 12 people and wounded 36, was the first strike on civilians in Islamabad in a decade.
“This atmosphere of fear needs to be ended, and we need to try to get all the lawyers together and express our solidarity. And we need to look into our security lapses so that we can cover them up (rectify them),” said lawyer Iffat Soomro.
Another lawyer, Khalil Ahmed Baloch, said they had come to the court building to show their support for the public and to remove fear. “There is fear, but we have come because if the lawyers do not come, then what will happen to the public? There will be more fear,” he said.
The government has vowed to investigate the attack and take action against those responsible. The Pakistani Taliban denied involvement in the bombing, but tensions remain high between Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan, which Islamabad has accused of harboring militants. Kabul denies this.
The attack came as Pakistan is locked in confrontation with both Kabul and New Delhi, fighting a four-day war with India in May and then last month carrying out airstrikes in Afghanistan, including Kabul, in response to what it said was the presence of Pakistani militants there. Subsequent skirmishes on the Pakistan-Afghan border were followed by unsuccessful peace talks.
The main Pakistani militant group, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, otherwise known as the Pakistani Taliban, denied involvement in the attacks. The Taliban administration in Kabul said in a statement that it “expresses its deep sorrow and condemnation” of the attacks.
Pakistani Taliban militants have in recent years focused attacks on security forces. Civilians had not been hit in Islamabad for a decade, according to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, a group that tracks attacks.
Another attack on a school in Wana, in the northwest, began Monday, when a suicide vehicle rammed the main entrance, killing three people. Militants then entered the school, which is run by the military but educates civilians.
Analysts said that it seemed to be an attempt to replicate a 2014 attack on another army-run school in the northwest, in which more than 130 children were killed.
