12 killed, several injured in suicide attack at Shia mosque in Pakistan's capital

Islamabad: At least 12 people were killed and several others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a Shia mosque during Friday prayers in Pakistan's capital, police sources said.

The powerful explosion occurred at Tarlai Imambargah in the Shehzad Town area of the federal capital.

The suicide bomber was stopped at the gate of the Imambargah, but he blew himself up, killing 12 people and injuring several others, they said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.

However, police sources said that the attacker was a foreign national and had links with Fitna al Khwaraji, a term used for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).  Rescue teams and police rushed to the site of the attack and began rescue operations.

An emergency was declared in the hospitals of the capital to deal with the situation, as the injured were being shifted to hospitals.

The attack came less than three months after a suicide bomber killed 12 people in a blast outside a district and sessions court building in Islamabad.

Today's attack came when Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was visiting Pakistan. He arrived on a two-day state visit on Thursday.