Pakistan investigates the suicide bombing that killed 12 outside an
Islamabad court
[November 12, 2025]
By MUNIR AHMED
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan opened a probe Wednesday into the suicide
bombing outside an Islamabad district court that left 12 dead the day
before, underscoring the challenges facing the government as it
struggles with militant attacks, border tensions and a fragile ceasefire
with Afghanistan.
The attack at the court, located on the edge of the city and next to a
residential area, also raised alarms that despite multiple operations by
the security forces to crush the militants, they are still capable of
mounting high-profile bombings — even in the Pakistani capital.
Pakistan has struggled with a surge in militant attacks in recent years
but until Tuesday's bombing, Islamabad has largely been considered a
safer place.
Forensic teams and police were combing Wednesday through debris at the
site of the blast, which had been sealed to preserve evidence. Across
the city, grief-stricken relatives were receiving the bodies of their
slain loved ones at an Islamabad hospital.
Later, funeral prayers got underway for some of the slain victims. Most
of the 27 people wounded in the bombing had been released home after
treatment.
Pakistan's accusations
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi alleged in the immediate aftermath of
Tuesday's bombing that the attack was “carried out by Indian-backed
elements and Afghan Taliban proxies” linked to the Pakistani Taliban.
He offered no evidence for his claim and also said authorities were
“looking into all aspects” of the explosion.
India and Afghanistan's Taliban-led government, which both reject
Pakistan’s accusations, have been working to increase ties in areas like
business and humanitarian aid, despite not having formal diplomatic
relations.
Naqvi also blamed the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban
Pakistan or TTP, for the attack. Pakistan has long claimed that the
Afghan Taliban have been sheltering TTP leaders and fighters, a claim
Kabul denies.
The TTP denied involvement on Tuesday while a breakaway faction,
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, claimed responsibility, only to have one of its
commanders later contradict that claim.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar split from the TTP after its leader was killed in
Afghanistan in 2022; some members have since rejoined the TTP while
others remain independent, underscoring deep divisions within Pakistan’s
militant networks.
The Islamabad attack drew widespread condemnation from the international
community.
Defense Minister Khawaja Asif told Geo News that the Islamabad bombing
was “a message for Pakistan” meant to show insurgents can carry out
attacks deep inside the country.
Asked whether Pakistan would retaliate and possibly target TTP hideouts
in Afghanistan, he said "it cannot be ruled out” and again urged Kabul
to rein in militants operating from there.
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Mourners comfort Yahya Zubair, son of lawyer Zubair Aslam Ghumman,
who was killed in Tuesday's suicide bombing outside the gates of a
district court, during a funeral prayer, in Islamabad, Pakistan,
Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Attack on a military-run college
On Monday night, four militants targeted an army-run college for
cadets in the northwestern city of Wana. The police said four of the
attackers — including a suicide car bomber — were killed and more
than 600 people, including 525 cadets, their teachers and other
staff, were safely rescued during the overnight assault.
The attack unfolded when a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden
vehicle into the college gate. Troops quickly fanned out across the
campus to prevent the attackers from reaching the buildings where
cadets and staff had taken shelter.
Footage aired on Pakistani news channels Wednesday showed soldiers
evacuating students using wooden ladders and breaking windows to get
inside the dormitories. The evacuees were later transported to
safety in armored vehicles, officials said.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the attackers appeared to
be attempting a repeat of the 2014 Peshawar school massacre — the
deadliest assault on a school in the country — when a breakaway TTP
faction killed 154 people, mostly children, at an army-run school in
Peshawar.
Escalation with Afghanistan
Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have risen since last
month, when Kabul accused Islamabad of carrying out drone strikes on
Oct. 9 that killed several people in the Afghan capital.
The strikes sparked cross-border clashes that left dozens of
soldiers, civilians, and militants dead before Qatar brokered a
cease-fire on Oct. 19. Two rounds of follow-up peace talks in
Istanbul ended without progress after Kabul refused to provide
written assurances that militants would not use Afghan soil to stage
attacks in Pakistan.
The TTP, which is allied with but separate from the Afghan Taliban,
has been emboldened since the Taliban 2021 takeover of Afghanistan.
As Pakistan's tensions with both India and Afghanistan remain high,
New Delhi and Kabul have upgraded ties.
India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and acting Afghan Foreign
Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, who obtained a temporary
exemption from travel ban under U.N. sanctions, met in New Delhi in
September. And last month, India said its technical mission in Kabul
would become a full embassy — the first high-level diplomatic
engagement since the Taliban took power.
___
Associated Press writers Ishtiaq Mahsud in Dera Ismail Khan,
Pakistan, and Riaz Khan and Rasool Dawar in Peshawar, Pakistan,
contributed to this story
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