India has issued a formal rejection of allegations linking it to Friday’s devastating suicide bombing at an Islamabad mosque that resulted in 31 fatalities and over 170 injuries. The Ministry of External Affairs characterized the accusations as “baseless and pointless” while simultaneously condemning the attack and expressing condolences for the loss of life.
The deadly assault unfolded when an attacker opened fire at the gates of the Khadija Tul Kubra Imambargah mosque before detonating explosives among worshippers. Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif identified the bomber as having traveled to Afghanistan and directly accused India of sponsoring the terrorist operation. This represents the most severe attack in Pakistan’s capital in over a decade.
Eyewitness accounts and images from the scene depicted horrific carnage, with bloodied bodies scattered across the mosque’s carpeted floors amid shattered glass and debris. Panicked survivors tended to the wounded in the compound’s gardens as emergency services struggled to respond to the scale of the tragedy.
The bombing has further strained relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors, with India’s swift denial reflecting the sensitive nature of cross-border terrorism allegations. The incident occurs against a backdrop of longstanding tensions between India and Pakistan, though direct accusations of state-sponsored terrorism remain relatively uncommon in recent diplomatic exchanges.