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Pakistan’s interior minister Mohsin Naqvi said Thursday that Afghan nationals were behind the two deadly suicide bombings this week, including one in the heart of Islamabad. Naqvi’s claim is likely to further strain the already tense relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Speaking in parliament during a televised session, Naqvi said both attackers had been identified as Afghan citizens. “There is no doubt about their nationality,” he said, adding that investigations were ongoing to determine their networks and facilitators. Kabul has yet to issue an official response.
The first attack took place on Tuesday, when a suicide bomber detonated himself near a police patrol outside a lower court in Islamabad, killing 12 people and injuring 27 others. A day earlier, another bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the main gate of a military-run school in South Waziristan, close to the Afghan border.
Three people were killed in the blast, and militants stormed the compound, triggering a fierce gunfight with Pakistani soldiers that lasted over 24 hours before all assailants were neutralised.
According to a report by Al Jazeera, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar — a splinter faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, the TTP has denied any role in the incident.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said that he “strongly condemned the suicide blast”.
The incidents come amid a sharp deterioration in Pakistan-Afghanistan ties. Islamabad has repeatedly accused Kabul of harbouring militants who use Afghan soil to launch attacks inside Pakistan — allegations Afghanistan’s Taliban government denies.
Last month, dozens of Pakistani soldiers were killed in cross-border clashes, underscoring the fragile state of relations between the two sides.
