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11 Killed in Suicide Attack on Court in Pakistan’s Capital 11 Killed in Suicide Attack on Court in Pakistan’s Capital
(about 4 hours later)
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — At least 11 people were killed and 25 were injured when unidentified assailants opened fire and detonated explosives in the Islamabad district court complex on Monday, according to police officials. ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — In a rare strike in the heart of Pakistan’s capital, militants killed at least 11 people in Islamabad’s district court complex on Monday, shaking the government just as prospects for talks with the Taliban seemed to be improving.
The motive behind the attack, which sent shock waves through the capital, was unclear, but it came just a day after the Pakistani government announced that it would halt airstrikes against Taliban militants in response to a Taliban cease-fire. An obscure militant cell, calling itself Ahrar-ul-Hind and thought to be a splinter group from the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack, just a day after the Pakistani government announced that it would halt airstrikes against Taliban militants who had declared a cease-fire. But the group gave no motive for the attack.
Shahidullah Shahid, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, denied any role in the attack. “We have nothing to do with the attack. We have announced a cease-fire, and we will follow it for one month. Media should restrain itself from blaming us,” Mr. Shahid said in a telephone interview. A senior judge, Rafaqat Ahmed Awan, was among those killed in the assault, carried out by gunmen with explosive vests who also wounded at least 25 people and set off a chaotic mass rush from the court complex and a busy market nearby, police officials said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility by any other militant group. Afterward, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif held an emergency meeting with the army chief, Gen. Raheel Sharif, and the head of the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, Lt. Gen Zahirul Islam. No details of the meeting were made public, and it was unclear what effect the attack might have on often-derailed efforts to open negotiations with the Pakistani Taliban.
The dead included a senior judge, Rafaqat Ahmed Awan. Shahidullah Shahid, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, denied any role in the assault on the court. “We have nothing to do with the attack,” he said in a telephone interview. “We have announced a cease-fire, and we will follow it for one month. Media should restrain itself from blaming us.”
Sikandar Hayat, the police chief of Islamabad, told reporters that two suicide bombers detonated their explosives after they were surrounded by the police. Witnesses described scenes of chaos after the attackers suddenly opened fire around 9 a.m. Monday.
The court complex sits alongside a busy market in a leafy enclave where there are several government and commercial offices. The number of attackers remained unclear. Police officials said there were only two gunmen, but witness accounts, and later comments by senior security officials, suggested that there could have been three or four.
Witnesses described scenes of chaos and panic after the attackers suddenly opened fire on lawyers and litigants around 9 a.m. Monday. Hubdaar Shah, who works as a clerk in a lawyer’s office, said he was coming out of a judge’s office when he heard gunshots.
The number of attackers remained unclear and witness accounts varied from three to four. But police officials insisted that there were only two attackers, believed to be in their early 20s. “I ignored the first gunshot sound and kept walking toward my office, but then the gunfire got louder and started coming from two different directions,” Mr. Shah said. “The gunfire continued for several minutes. Then, we heard two small explosions, followed by a big explosion.”
Hubdaar Shah, who works as a clerk in a lawyer’s office, said he was coming out of a judge’s office when he heard gunshots. “I ignored the first gunshot sound and kept walking toward my office, but then the gunfire got louder and started coming from two different directions,” Mr. Shah said. “The gunfire continued for several minutes. Then, we heard two small explosions, followed by a big explosion.”
“There was confusion as we did not know what was happening. Everyone was running for cover,” he said. “Nothing like this had ever happened before. It was a frightening experience.”“There was confusion as we did not know what was happening. Everyone was running for cover,” he said. “Nothing like this had ever happened before. It was a frightening experience.”
Mr. Shah said he escaped the gunfire by taking a narrow street between the law offices and courts.Mr. Shah said he escaped the gunfire by taking a narrow street between the law offices and courts.
Soon after, police officers and troops arrived, cordoned off the area and combed through the offices to search for the attackers and secure buildings. Soon after, police officers and troops arrived, cordoned off the area and combed through the offices to search for the attackers and secure buildings. Sikandar Hayat, the police chief of Islamabad, told reporters that the attackers detonated their explosives after they had been surrounded by the police.
The wounded were taken to the nearby Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital. Five were said to be in a critical condition. Afterward, Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan, the cabinet official ultimately in charge of the police, criticized officers for not even being able to pin down the number of attackers. And he suggested that the attack may not have been related to any political dissent within the Taliban, but rather may be connected to the arrest of seven men accused of being militant operatives in an Islamabad suburb on Saturday.
Separately, two paramilitary troops were killed and seven were wounded on Monday in the restive northwestern Khyber tribal region when a roadside bomb exploded near their convoy.