In the capital of Pakistan, a suicide bomber blew himself up: at least 12 dead

As Reuters writes, on Tuesday in the capital of Pakistan, a suicide bomber killed 12 people, which was a sharp escalation of violence by militants with the first attack on the civilian population in Islamabad in the last decade.

Source: Reuters

Details: Pakistani government ministers have accused neighboring Afghanistan of complicity in the bloodshed – a charge Kabul has denied – and vowed to retaliate if Afghan authorities fail to rein in the militants Islamabad says are responsible for the attack.

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“We are at war,” Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said after the attack, which was the first attack on civilians in Islamabad in a decade. “Transferring this war to Islamabad is a message from Kabul that Pakistan has every right to respond to.”

Pakistan has been at loggerheads with Kabul and New Delhi, waging a four-day war with India in May and launching airstrikes in Afghanistan, including Kabul, last month in response to what it says are Pakistani militants there. Further clashes on the Pakistan-Afghan border were accompanied by unsuccessful peace negotiations.

Pakistan’s main jihadist group, known as the Pakistani Taliban, has denied involvement in the attacks.

In recent years, Pakistani Taliban militants have focused their attacks on security forces. According to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, a group that tracks attacks, civilians in Islamabad have not been hit in a decade.

Islamabad says the Pakistani Taliban and other militants are based in Afghanistan with the support of India.

“We are absolutely sure that Afghanistan must stop them. If we fail, we will have no other choice but to deal with those terrorists who are attacking our country,” said Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, speaking at the scene of the explosion in court.

He added that authorities were investigating who was behind the court bombing and that the attack in Islamabad “carried many messages.”

The suicide bomber detonated near the entrance to the courthouse around lunchtime.

Local media showed photos of bloodied people lying next to a police van. A car that was on fire and another car that was heavily damaged could be seen.

In addition, another attack took place at a military training facility in Wana, northwest Pakistan, where a man attacked the main entrance, killing three people. The militants then entered a school where civilians study.

The publication adds: according to analysts, this was an attempt to repeat the 2014 attack on another military school in the northwest of the country, which killed more than 130 children.

We will remind: Peace talks between Afghanistan and Pakistan in Turkey have failed due to deep differences over responsibility for Pakistan’s internal security. At the same time, both sides confirmed their intention to observe the previously established ceasefire regime.

Before that, on October 15, the parties agreed on a temporary ceasefire against the background of a sharp escalation between the two countries. This decision was preceded by airstrikes and ground battles, as a result of which more than a dozen civilians were killed and about 100 were injured.

On October 19, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Pakistan and Afghanistan had agreed to an “immediate ceasefire” following talks in Doha.