Daesh Says It Was behind Islamabad Deadly Bombing
Funerals will take place on Saturday for some of the victims.
The blast was the deadliest in Islamabad since the 2008 Marriott hotel bombing.
City officials said 31 people died and another 169 were wounded in the explosion at the Imam Bargah Qasr-e-Khadijatul Kubra site on the city's outskirts. The death toll was expected to rise.
The blast occurred during Friday prayers, when mosques are packed with worshippers.
"The attacker was stopped at the gate and detonated himself," a security source said.
Muhammad Kazim, 52, said an "extremely powerful" explosion ripped through the building as prayers were just starting.
Another worshipper, Imran Mahmood, said there was a gunfight between the bomber and volunteer security personnel at the mosque.
"The suicide attacker was trying to move forward, but one of our injured volunteers fired at him from behind, hitting him in the thigh," he said.
He then "detonated the explosives", Mahmood added.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed that those behind the blast would be found and brought to justice.
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar branded the attack "a heinous crime against humanity and a blatant violation of Islamic principles".
The Daesh terror group emerged in Iraq and Syria and quickly created a "caliphate", declaring its rule over all Muslims and largely displacing al Qaeda.
After being defeated and ousted from its strongholds, Daesh retains a presence in Syria and Iraq, parts of Africa including the Sahel region, and in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
But the group has adopted new tactics since the collapse of its forces and a string of other setbacks in the Middle East.
The Islamabad bombing comes as Pakistan's security forces battle intensifying insurgencies in southern and northern provinces that border Afghanistan.
Pakistan is a Sunni-majority nation. Shias, who make up between 10 and 15 percent of the population, have been targeted in attacks throughout the region in the past.
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The last major attack in Islamabad took place in November when a suicide blast outside a court killed 12 people and wounded dozens, the first such incident to hit the capital in nearly three years.
In Balochistan, attacks claimed by separatist insurgents last week killed 36 civilians and 22 security personnel, prompting a wave of counter-operations in which authorities said security forces killed almost 200 militants.
Friday's attack was the deadliest in the Pakistani capital since September 2008, when 60 people were killed in a suicide truck bomb blast that destroyed part of the five-star Marriott hotel.
Source: France24
