31 killed and over 160 injured in Islamabad imambargah suicide blast

At least 31 people were killed ‍and ‌169 wounded ⁠in a ‍suicide bombing at a ‍Shiite mosque in Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad on Friday, a government official said.

"The ‌death toll in ‍the blast has risen. A ​total of 31 people have lost their ​lives. ‍The number ‌of wounded brought to hospitals have ​risen to ‌169," Islamabad's deputy commissioner Irfan Memon said.

Islamabad police said the blast at the sprawling mosque was an attack and that an investigation was underway.

A senior police official told AFP, on condition of anonymity, that the "explosion occurred after Friday prayers in a Shiite mosque."

A statement from local authorities in Islamabad said 15 people were killed in the attack at the mosque in the Tarlai area of the city, adding that the "number of patients brought to various hospitals has exceeded 80."

An AFP photographer outside the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital saw dozens of wounded people arriving.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif condemned the blast.

Television footage and social media images showed police and residents transporting the injured to nearby hospitals.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi also condemned the attack, and asked authorities to ensure the provision of best medical care to the wounded persons, who were arriving at the city's different hospitals.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the explosion, but suspicion is likely to fall on militants such as the Pakistani Taliban or Daesh group, which has been blamed for previous attacks on Shiite worshippers.

Agencies