A powerful car bomb exploded outside a district court complex in Pakistan’s capital on Tuesday, killing at least 11 people and injuring more than a dozen others, according to security officials.
The explosion, which was heard miles away, ripped through a crowded area outside the court, damaging several vehicles. Witnesses said hundreds of people were present at the time, attending scheduled hearings.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Pakistan has been struggling to contain a surge in militant violence, including a resurgent Pakistani Taliban.
Two security officials, speaking to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to brief the media, confirmed that a car bomb caused the blast and that 11 people were killed. Local TV channels reported that at least 13 others were injured, mostly passersby or court visitors.
Islamabad police said an investigation was underway, but declined to provide further details.
Earlier on Tuesday, Pakistani security forces said they had foiled an attempt by militants to storm an army-run cadet college in the northwestern city of Wana, near the Afghan border. A suicide car bomber and five other Pakistani Taliban members reportedly targeted the facility overnight.
Local police chief Alamgir Mahsud said troops quickly killed two attackers while three others managed to enter an administrative block before being cornered by security forces. Commandos launched a clearance operation that continued into Tuesday, though the cadet dormitory buildings remained secure.
The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which is allied with but separate from Afghanistan’s Taliban, denied involvement in the college attack. The group has grown bolder since the Taliban’s return to power in Kabul in 2021, with many of its leaders believed to be sheltering inside Afghanistan.
Pakistan has seen a sharp escalation in militant attacks in recent years. The country’s deadliest school assault occurred in 2014, when Taliban gunmen killed 154 people—mostly children—at an army-run school in Peshawar. Military officials said the attackers in Wana appeared to be attempting a similar operation.
Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have also intensified in recent months. Kabul accused Islamabad of launching deadly drone strikes on Oct. 9 and warned of retaliation, prompting cross-border clashes that left dozens dead. A Qatar-brokered ceasefire on Oct. 19 remains in effect.
Two rounds of peace talks between the two countries have since been held in Istanbul, the latest on Thursday, but ended without an agreement after Kabul refused to issue a written assurance that the TTP and other militants would not operate from Afghan soil. A previous ceasefire between Pakistan and the TTP, mediated by Kabul in 2022, collapsed later that year.
Source: AP