Suicide bomber kills 31 in Pakistan mosque

ISLAMABAD, Feb 6 (Reuters): An attacker opened fire at the gates of a Shi'ite Muslim mosque in Islamabad on Friday before setting off a suicide bomb and killing at least 31 people, in the deadliest attack of its kind in Pakistan's capital in over a decade.

More than 170 others were wounded in the explosion, detonated after guards challenged the attacker as he made his way into the Khadija Tul Kubra Imambargah compound on the outskirts of the city, officials said.

Images from the site showed bloodied bodies lying on the carpeted mosque floor surrounded by shards of glass, debris and panicked worshippers. Dozens more wounded were lying in the gardens of the compound as people called for help.

The man blew "himself up in the last row of worshippers," Defence Minister Khawaja Asif wrote on X.

He said the bomber had a history of travelling to Afghanistan and blamed neighbouring India for sponsoring the assault, without providing evidence.

There was no immediate response from New Delhi, which has dismissed Pakistan's accusations of backing militants in the past.

The attack was the deadliest suicide bombing in Islamabad in more than a decade, according to conflict monitor ACLED, which said it "bears the hallmarks of the Islamic State".

Shi'ites, who are in the minority in the predominantly Sunni Muslim nation of 241 million, have been targeted in sectarian violence in the past, including by Islamic State and the Sunni Islamist group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

Bombings are rare in the heavily guarded capital, although Pakistan has been hit by a rising wave of militancy in the past few years, particularly along the border with Afghanistan.