ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif issued a stern warning to Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government on Tuesday, accusing it of harboring militants behind a suicide bombing in Islamabad that killed at least 12 people, according to “The News”.
The attack, the first suicide blast in the capital in three years, occurred outside the District and Sessions Court in Islamabad’s G-11 sector at 12:39 p.m., when the bomber detonated explosives after failing to breach the court’s main gate, according to Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi. The explosion targeted a police vehicle, leaving the area strewn with debris and damaged cars.
“We are in a state of war,” Asif declared on X (formerly Twitter). “Anyone who thinks that the Pakistan Army is fighting this war only in the border areas or in Balochistan should take this attack in Islamabad as a wake-up call.”
Calling the fight against terrorism a “national war”, Asif praised Pakistan’s armed forces for providing “a sense of security through their sacrifices.” Yet he warned that negotiations with Kabul now seem futile, accusing Afghanistan’s rulers of allowing militant groups to launch attacks inside Pakistan.
“The leadership in Kabul can stop terrorism in Pakistan,” he wrote. “But bringing this war to Islamabad sends a message directly from Kabul.”
Speaking to reporters, Asif said authorities had anticipated such an attack as a pressure tactic by militant groups. “This incident tells us that no place in Pakistan is beyond their reach,” he said, pledging “zero tolerance” for terrorism whether in border zones or major cities.
Since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, Pakistan has witnessed a sharp rise in militant violence, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Tensions between Islamabad and Kabul have escalated in recent months, with both sides exchanging cross-border fire before agreeing to a fragile ceasefire that remains uncertain.
