12 killed and 36 were injured in a suicide blast outside the district and sessions court building in Islamabad’s G-11 area, according to officials.
The incident occurred as international events were being hosted in the capital, including the Inter-Parliamentary Speakers’ Conference and the 6th Margalla Dialogue, while a cricket match between the Green Shirts and Sri Lanka was also being held in Rawalpindi.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, while briefing the media outside the court, said that a “suicide blast” had occurred at 12:39pm. He said that 12 people were killed and 27 were injured, adding that the wounded were being provided medical treatment, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif personally in touch with the hospitals in question.
Later, however, the spokesperson for the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Dr Mubahshir Daha, said that “12 people have been martyred in the blast”, while the number of injured had risen to 36, as per a statement.
“Following the attack, an emergency has been declared at PIMS, and medical assistance to the injured is underway,” the spokesperson said. “All resources are being utilised to assist the injured.”
Daha said that “Thirty-six injured people were brought to PIMS, out of which 18 have been discharged after treatment, while 14 have been moved to wards and four are in critical condition.”
In the evening, Health Minister Mustafa Kamal visited the injured at PIMS and directed the hospital staff to provide the best medical assistance to them, a statement said.
