Car bomb outside Islamabad court kills at least 5, according to state media
A powerful car bomb detonated outside a district court complex in Islamabad on Tuesday, killing at least five people and injuring thirteen others. The explosion occurred during a busy morning when the area was filled with people attending court hearings. Witnesses said the blast shattered windows and set vehicles ablaze, with the sound echoing across several miles. Emergency responders rushed to the scene as police cordoned off the area and began an investigation into the cause of the explosion. Several cars parked near the courthouse were destroyed, and debris was scattered across the street. Authorities confirmed that most of the victims were civilians who happened to be nearby at the time of the blast.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the explosion comes amid renewed militant activity in Pakistan, particularly involving the Pakistani Taliban. Earlier the same day, security forces in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province repelled an attempted assault on an army-run cadet college in Wana, a region once known as a militant stronghold. A suicide car bomber and five armed attackers attempted to infiltrate the facility, but troops quickly neutralized two of the assailants before the remaining three were cornered in an administrative building. The Pakistani Taliban denied involvement in the attempted raid, though the group has grown increasingly active since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.
Pakistan continues to face a wave of insurgent violence reminiscent of earlier years when militant groups operated freely along the Afghan border. The memory of the 2014 Peshawar school massacre, which left 154 people dead—mostly children—still looms large, and officials say recent attacks appear aimed at rekindling that same terror. Meanwhile, tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have worsened following deadly drone strikes in Kabul last month that sparked cross-border fighting. Although a ceasefire brokered by Qatar remains technically in place, peace talks in Istanbul last week failed to yield progress as both nations remain divided over how to handle militant groups sheltering in Afghan territory.
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