The terrorist who carried out the suicide attack on a mosque in Islamabad on Friday has been identified as Yasir, according to sources.
Sources said the attacker, who blew himself up, was affiliated with the banned ISIS. Following the identification, four people were detained from Peshawar and shifted to an undisclosed location for questioning.
Special teams have been formed to trace facilitators and those who provided assistance to the attacker. Sources said that counter-terrorism officers are part of these special teams.
Investigations are underway based on information about the attacker’s current and previous locations. Sources revealed that a house linked to a National Identity Card address was also raided as part of the ongoing probe.
On Friday, a suicide blast at the Khadija Tul Kubra mosque in Tarlai Kalan on the outskirts of Rawalpindi left at least 36 worshippers martyred and more than 150 injured.
The blast occurred when a foreign suicide bomber, initially identified by authorities as affiliated with Fitna al-Khawarij, was stopped at the mosque’s gate and he detonated his explosives, officials said. Security forces and police launched operations in the area following the explosion to secure the site and pursue leads related to the assailant’s network.
Rawalpindi mosque suicide blast kills 31; Fitna al-Khawarij blamed
Following the blast at Tarlai mosque, an emergency was declared at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), where a large number of victims were shifted for treatment.
According to the PIMS spokesperson, as soon as information about the blast was received at 1:50 pm, all hospital staff were placed on high alert. A total of 149 people were brought to PIMS: 28 dead and 121 injured.
The spokesperson stated that 20 major operations have been completed so far in efforts to save the injured, while 4 to 6 more complex surgeries are currently underway in alternate operation theatres. The Surgical ICU and High Dependency Unit (HDU) were mobilized on an emergency basis to handle critical cases.
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More than 60 units of blood have been provided to the injured, while the uninterrupted supply of medicines and surgical equipment was ensured. Surgeons, anesthesia experts, and nursing staff continued their duties despite the end of their shifts.
Young doctors, interns, and paramedical staff played a key role in the emergency response. Housekeeping, security, kitchen, and store staff also remained alert to facilitate treatment and care for the injured.
The spokesperson said the entire PIMS team stood united to face the challenge, and relief and treatment efforts are still ongoing.
The Pakistani government has increasingly used the term Fitna al-Khawarij in official statements to refer to militants from the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), aiming to delegitimise their ideology and highlight their threat to national stability.