ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Thirty-one people were killed and 169 others wounded in a suicide bombing attack on a Shiite mosque on the outskirts of Islamabad during Friday prayers.

Police and residents rushed the wounded to nearby hospitals, and some of the injured in the attack on the sprawling mosque of Khadija Al-Kubra were reported to be in critical condition.

Rescuers and witnesses said the scene of the blast was ghastly, with bodies and wounded lying on the mosque's carpeted floor.

An eyewitness said he was praying in the mosque courtyard when he heard a sudden, loud explosion. He thought it was a terrorist attack. He entered the mosque to see many of the wounded screaming for help. He counted around 30 bodies inside the mosque.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the explosion, but suspicion is likely to fall on militant organizations such as the Pakistani Taliban or the Islamic State group, which has previously carried out attacks against Shiite worshippers, a religious minority in the country. Armed groups in Pakistan frequently target both security forces and civilians.

Pakistan's Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif wrote on X that early findings suggest the suicide bomber had been traveling to and from Afghanistan. He said mosque security guards tried to stop the suspect, who opened fire on them before detonating explosives among worshippers.

Afghanistan's Defense Ministry condemned the attack in Islamabad and said the Pakistani minister had "irresponsibly" linked the incident to Afghanistan. Pakistan has often accused Afghanistan — where the Taliban returned to power in August 2021 after the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops — of sheltering militants, including members of the Pakistani Taliban, an allegation Kabul denies.

Afghanistan's Foreign Ministry also issued a statement condemning attacks on mosques and worshippers, calling them violations of the sanctity of religious rituals and innocent lives.

The bombing drew condemnation from the international community, including the United States and the European Union, while several embassies in Islamabad issued messages of sympathy. President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed condolences to the victims' families in separate statements and directed authorities to provide complete medical assistance to the wounded.

Picture courtesy: ANI