31 killed, 169 injured in suicide attack at Shia mosque in Pakistan's capital
Islamabad (PTI): A suicide bomber blew himself up at a Shia mosque during Friday prayers in Pakistan's capital, killing at least 31 people and injuring 169 others, said officials, in one of the worst terror attacks targeting the community in recent years.
The powerful explosion, which was heard from a far distance, took place at Khadijatul Kubra mosque-cum-imambargah in the Tarlai area of Islamabad, the police said in a statement.
The suicide bomber was stopped at the gate of the imambargah, but he detonated himself, police and eyewitnesses said.
At least 31 people were killed and 169 others injured in the explosion, a district administration spokesperson said in a post on X.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast. However, police sources said that the attacker was a foreign national and had links with Fitna al Khwaraji, a term used for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Citing eyewitnesses, Geo News reported that the terrorist first opened fire and then detonated himself.
TV footage showed multiple bodies lying on the floor surrounded by shards of glass and debris.
Police and Rescue 1122 personnel were involved in rescue operations.
The army troops and Rangers have cordoned off the area, and security operations are underway in and around the site of the blast.
An emergency was declared in the hospitals of the capital to deal with the situation, as the injured were being shifted to hospitals.
The attack came less than three months after a suicide bomber killed 12 people in a blast outside a district and sessions court building in Islamabad.
Friday's attack came when Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was visiting Pakistan. He arrived on a two-day state visit on Thursday.
President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas condemned the attack.
“Targeting innocent civilians is a crime against humanity,” Zardari said.
Strongly condemning the attack, Abbas said that targeting places of worship is a direct attack on humanity, religion and social values, which cannot be tolerated under any circumstances.
According to police officials, the nature of the explosion was being probed, but the explosion seems to be a suicide attack.
Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry visited the Pakistan Institute of Medical Science (PIMS) hospital in Islamabad and met the injured.
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry strongly condemned the attack in a post on social media platform X, expressing grief over the loss of lives in the “cowardly act”.
“Such acts of terrorism cannot dampen the morale of the nation. The need of the hour is that we all stand united for peace, tolerance, and stability, and express solidarity with law enforcement agencies,” the minister stressed.
Chaudhry is a native of Islamabad and belongs to the area where the blast occurred.
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2 Indian nationals part of crew of luxury cruise ship that reported hantavirus outbreak
London (PTI): At least two Indian nationals are part of the crew of the Dutch vessel MV Hondius which reported a hantavirus outbreak with five confirmed cases and three deaths so far, according to the BBC.
The luxury cruise ship, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, began its journey on April 1 from Argentina’s Ushuaia and is expected to arrive in Spain’s Canary Islands on May 10.
About 150 passengers and crew from 28 countries were initially aboard the luxury cruise, but dozens disembarked on the island of St Helena on April 24, according to the report.
Of the 28 nationalities onboard, 38 are from the Philippines, 31 from the UK, 23 from the US, 16 from the Netherlands, 14 from Spain, nine from Germany, six from Canada, and two crew members from India, among others, the BBC reported.
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The World Health Organization said on Thursday that five of the eight suspected hantavirus cases had been confirmed.
A 69-year-old Dutch woman, confirmed to have the virus, has died; her Dutch husband and a German woman were also among the fatalities. Their cases are being investigated.
The UN health agency has said the outbreak is not the start of a pandemic.
Maria van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist at WHO, told a news briefing that the situation is not the same as six years ago with Covid-19 because hantavirus spreads through “close, intimate contact”.
Van Kerkhove said “this is not Covid, this is not influenza, it spreads very, very differently”. She said authorities had asked “everyone to wear a mask” on board the MV Hondius.
Those in contact with or caring for suspected cases, she added, should “wear a higher level of personal protective equipment”.
Hantavirus typically spreads from rodents - but in the latest outbreak the transmission between people was documented for the first time, the WHO said.
Meanwhile, health authorities are racing to trace dozens of people who have recently disembarked from the Dutch vessel MV Hondius.
Oceanwide Expedition said 29 passengers, of at least 12 different nationalities, had left the MV Hondius in St Helena, the British Overseas Territory.
It also said the body of one deceased person—now known to be a Dutch man - was taken off the vessel.
Seven of those who left the cruise liner were British nationals.
