Pakistani authorities have arrested four suspects, including an alleged mastermind, following a suicide bombing at a Shia mosque that killed at least 32 people on Friday.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi announced the arrests on Saturday, identifying the alleged mastermind as an Afghan national. The raids, conducted in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, resulted in the death of one counter-terrorism officer and left three others wounded.
The Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for the blast, which ripped through the Khadija al-Kubra mosque in Islamabad's Tarlai area. Worshippers were attending Friday prayers when the bomber detonated his explosives.
The attack wounded more than 160 people and is the deadliest in the capital in over a decade. On Saturday, thousands of mourners gathered for funerals amid tight security and high-alert police checkpoints.
In his announcement, Naqvi accused India of funding the attackers and providing targets. The Indian foreign ministry condemned the bombing and rejected the allegations as "baseless."
Additionally, Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif suggested the attack was planned in Afghanistan. The Afghan Taliban government described the claim as "regrettable," stating it was made without credible evidence.
In response to the tragedy, Naqvi pledged to overhaul Islamabad's security by recruiting thousands of new officers and upgrading the city’s smart surveillance systems.
While typically rare in the capital, this blast follows a wave of coordinated attacks in Balochistan last week that claimed 58 lives. The military reported killing over 200 militants in recent counter-operations against the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).
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