91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Watch CBS News
World

Mosque in Pakistan's capital Islamabad hit by suicide bombing, leaving dozens dead and wounded

By Sami Yousafzai

/ CBS News

A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a mosque in a suburb of Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Friday, killing at least 31 people and leaving almost 170 others wounded, a spokesman for the city government said in a message shared with journalists. 

A local security official said the attack came while the Shiite Muslim mosque was packed with people for Friday prayers.

Images from the scene showed dozens of people lying bloodied on the floor of the Imambargah Khadijatul Kubra mosque in Islamabad's Tarlai suburb, while others were piled into any vehicles available to be transported to local hospitals.

Children could be seen among the casualties.

The security official, who spoke to CBS News on the condition of anonymity, noted that there hadn't been a major attack since a suicide bombing that hit a court in Islamabad about two months ago, prompting the alert level in the capital to be raised to its highest.

PAKISTAN-UNREST
People move an injured man onto a gurney after an explosion at a mosque in Islamabad, Pakistan, Feb. 6, 2026. Aamir QURESHI/AFP/Getty

"Apparently bombers failed to reach big targets inside the capital and turned to soft targets such as mosques and public places in the suburbs," the official said.

Witnesses said the bomber was stopped at the gate and then blew himself up.

Zahir Hussain told CBS News he was parking to go into the mosque when the massive explosion threw him against his car door.

"After that, for a while there was horrific silence, then what I saw in the mosque, I don't have words to explain it," Hussain said.

Police and emergency services declared an emergency for Islamabad's hospitals. Authorities said the nearby PIMS Hospital had already reached full capacity as victims were brought in, and some of the injured were being transferred to other hospitals in the capital and neighboring Rawalpindi.

PAKISTAN-UNREST
Security personnel stand guard outside a mosque following an explosion, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Feb. 6, 2026. Farooq NAEEM/AFP/Getty

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with the country's interior minister and ordered an investigation into the attack.

Sharif vowed in a statement that those responsible would be brought to justice, and no one would be allowed to spread hatred and insecurity in the country.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility and officials named no suspects.

Pakistan has faced violent attacks by a number of regional terrorist groups, including both the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban, neither of which frequently targets Shiite Muslims, and the regional ISIS affiliate, ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K), and others that have attacked civilians and security forces indiscriminately.

Tucker Reals contributed to this report.

In:

© 2026 91³Ô¹ÏÍø. All Rights Reserved.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
const link = doc.createElement('link'); link.rel = 'stylesheet'; link.href = '/fly/fly/bundles/cbsnewscontent/css/cmp-banner.min.css?v=50747257b890e014813016b79ece0fb2'; doc.head.appendChild(link); doc.body.innerHTML = CONSENT_MESSAGE; } else { el.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', CONSENT_MESSAGE); } }); } function hidePrivacyMessage() { // Remove from the main document document.querySelectorAll(`.${CONSENT_MESSAGE_CLASS}`).forEach(el => el.remove()); // Remove from inside any iframes document.querySelectorAll('iframe').forEach(iframe => { const doc = iframe.contentDocument || iframe.contentWindow.document; doc.querySelectorAll(`.${CONSENT_MESSAGE_CLASS}`).forEach(el => el.remove()); }); } function activateGatedScripts() { // Handle both new format (cmp-gated-script) and old OneTrust/Ketch format (optanon-category-4) const gatedScripts = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('script.cmp-gated-script, script.optanon-category-4')); // Activate scripts sequentially with a small delay to avoid timing issues let delay = 0; gatedScripts.forEach(function(placeholder, index) { setTimeout(function() { // Skip if already processed if (placeholder.hasAttribute('data-cmp-processed')) { return; } placeholder.setAttribute('data-cmp-processed', 'true'); const newScript = document.createElement('script'); newScript.type = 'text/javascript'; // Try new format first (data-cmp-src), then fall back to old format (data-src) const src = placeholder.getAttribute('data-cmp-src') || placeholder.getAttribute('data-src'); if (src) { newScript.src = src; } else if (placeholder.textContent) { // Inline script - just copy the content newScript.textContent = placeholder.textContent; } // Handle new format attributes (data-cmp-attrs) - for both inline and external scripts const attrs = placeholder.getAttribute('data-cmp-attrs'); if (attrs) { const tempDiv = document.createElement('div'); tempDiv.innerHTML = '
<\/div>'; const tempAttrs = tempDiv.firstChild.attributes; for (let i = 0; i < tempAttrs.length; i++) { // For external scripts, allow defer/async. For inline scripts, skip them (not valid) if (src || (tempAttrs[i].name !== 'async' && tempAttrs[i].name !== 'defer')) { newScript.setAttribute(tempAttrs[i].name, tempAttrs[i].value); } } } // Copy other attributes from old OneTrust format for (let i = 0; i < placeholder.attributes.length; i++) { const attr = placeholder.attributes[i]; // Skip attributes we've already handled or don't want to copy if (!['class', 'data-src', 'data-type', 'data-cmp-src', 'data-cmp-attrs', 'data-cmp-processed', 'type', 'async', 'defer', 'src'].includes(attr.name)) { newScript.setAttribute(attr.name, attr.value); } } placeholder.parentNode.replaceChild(newScript, placeholder); // If external script, manually trigger window.onload handlers after it loads // This handles widgets that use window.onload for initialization if (src) { newScript.addEventListener('load', function() { // If page already loaded and script set a new onload handler, trigger it if (document.readyState === 'complete' && window.onload) { const originalOnload = window.onload; window.onload = null; // Clear temporarily to prevent loops originalOnload(); // Execute the handler } }); } }, delay); delay += 500; // 500ms delay between each script to allow full loading }); } cbsoptanon.onScriptsReady(function(cmp) { cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(allowed) { if (!allowed) { showPrivacyMessage(); } else { activateGatedScripts(); } }); cmp.ot.awaitInitialConsent(function(consent_model) { cmp.ot.addOnConsentChangedHandler(function() { cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(allowed) { if (allowed) { hidePrivacyMessage(); activateGatedScripts(); } else { showPrivacyMessage(); } }); }); }); });