KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Pakistani authorities say they have arrested four suspects in connection with a deadly suicide bombing that targeted a Shia mosque in the capital, Islamabad, during Friday prayers (February 5).
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said on Saturday that the suspects, including the alleged mastermind of the attack, were detained during intelligence-based operations in Peshawar and Nowshera.
Officials also said initial investigations identified the suicide bomber as a Pakistani national named Yasir Khan Yasir, who had allegedly received militant training at an Istishhadi training center (a facility where individuals are trained to carry out suicide attacks) in Afghanistan’s Kunar province. According to Pakistani media, the attacker spent around five months in Afghanistan before returning to Pakistan and was said to be influenced by Salafi ideology (a conservative Sunni Islamic movement advocating a return to the practices of the earliest generations of Muslims).
The bombing took place inside the Khadijah-tul-Kubra Shia mosque in Islamabad’s Shehzad Town area, where the attacker detonated explosives in a packed prayer hall. At least 31 worshippers were killed and nearly 170 others wounded, many critically, making it one of the deadliest attacks in the capital in recent years.
Thousands of people later attended a mass funeral for the victims. Images published by Reuters showed large crowds, many dressed in black, gathered at an open venue to mourn the dead.
Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said the attacker had previously travelled to Afghanistan and accused India of involvement in the attack. India rejected the claim as baseless, while Taliban authorities in Afghanistan also condemned the bombing.
The so-called Islamic State group (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack, releasing an image of the attacker holding a weapon with his face covered. The group has repeatedly targeted Shia Muslims in Pakistan and Afghanistan, whom it labels as “heretics.”
The bombing comes months after another suicide attack outside a district court in Islamabad’s G-11 area in November 2025, which killed 12 people and injured more than 30. That attack was claimed by Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), highlighting ongoing security challenges in the capital.
