Security force personnel stand guard as members of the media film from a coordinated area following a deadly explosion at a Shiite Muslim mosque, in Islamabad, Pakistan, February 7, 2026. PHOTO: REUTERS
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistani authorities have arrested close relatives of the suicide bomber who carried out the deadly attack at an imambargah in Islamabad’s Tarlai area, as security agencies launched operations across the country, intelligence sources said.
According to sources, the brother-in-law of the suicide bomber was arrested in Karachi, while his brother was detained in Peshawar. A key facilitator linked to the attack was killed during an operation in Nowshera.
The most important arrest, sources said, was that of the attacker’s mother, who was detained at a house in an upscale section of Islamabad. Intelligence agencies said operations were underway across the country to dismantle the network behind the attack.
According to authorities and hospital officials, at least 32 people were killed and around 169 injured when a suicide bomber attacked Imambangah Khadijah al-Kubra during Friday prayers. The explosion, accompanied by explosions and gunshots, occurred as worshipers gathered for jumma prayers.
Also read: Bomber identified as ‘Afghanistan-trained’ Peshawar resident
The attack was the deadliest in Islamabad in more than a decade and the deadliest in the country since the Peshawar mosque bombing in January 2023.
Investigators identified the attacker as Yasir Khan, a Peshawar resident, who had traveled to Afghanistan several times and received training there. According to preliminary information shared by sources close to the investigation, he remained in Afghanistan for about five months before returning to Pakistan.
“He received training at the Mansoor Istashhadi training center in Kunar province, northeastern Afghanistan, and traveled to and from the country several times,” the sources said. The express PAkGazette.
Minister of State for Home Affairs Talal Chaudhry confirmed that the attacker had been identified. “He is not an Afghan citizen, but forensic examination of the remaining parts of his body has provided information on how many times he had traveled to Afghanistan,” he said.
state broadcaster PTV News said on
Defense Minister Khawaja Asif echoed those claims, blaming the imambargah attack on what he described as an “India-Afghanistan nexus.” In a post on X, he said it had been established that the attacker traveled to and from Afghanistan and that evidence of links between India and the Taliban was emerging.
He called the perpetrators “enemies of both religion and nation” and said the state would respond with all its force.
