Islamabad Imambagah suicide bomber identified as Peshawar resident

ISLAMABAD:

The suicide bomber, who attacked Imambargah Khadijah al-Kubra in Islamabad on Friday, has been identified as Yasir Khan, a resident of Peshawar, sources close to the investigation said. The express PAkGazette.

The attacker detonated explosives just as worshipers were offering Friday prayers inside the crowded imambargah in Tarlai area, police and administration officials said, adding that at least 31 worshipers were martyred and around 170 were injured in the blast.

According to preliminary information, Khan stayed in Afghanistan for approximately five months before returning to Pakistan. Sources also indicated he may have links to the banned militant group Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP), although investigations are ongoing.

Khan is believed to have received militant training during his time in Afghanistan. “He remained at the ‘Mansoor Istashhadi training center in Kuner province in northeastern Afghanistan and traveled to and from Afghanistan several times,” the sources said. The express PAkGazette.

Authorities are continuing their investigation to uncover the entire network behind the deadly attack and determine all possible domestic and cross-border connections.

Minister of State for Home Affairs Talal Chaudhry also 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 added.

state broadcaster PTV News stated in an

Defense Minister Khawaja Asif blamed what he described as an “India-Afghanistan nexus” for the Imambargah massacre.

In a post on X, he claimed that it had been established that the attacker had traveled to and from Afghanistan and that evidence of links between India and the Taliban was emerging.

He described the perpetrators as “enemies of both religion and nation” and vowed that the state would respond to the attack with all its force.

Referring to the May 2025 military confrontation between Pakistan and India, he wrote that after a humiliating defeat, India was now fighting through proxies and no longer had the courage to engage in direct war.