A suicide bomb attack on Tuesday outside a court in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, killed 12 people and injured more than 20, the country’s interior minister announced.
Mohsin Naqvi said the bombers were planning to attack the district court, but were unable to get inside, BCC reported.
Naqvi said authorities would prioritize identifying the bomber and those involved would be brought to justice. It remains unclear who carried out the attack.
Suicide bombings in Islamabad have been rare in recent years. Footage from the scene on Tuesday showed the burned-out remains of a car and a police cordon in place.
Footage of the aftermath showed smoke billowing from the charred vehicle behind a safety fence.
Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari said he “strongly condemns the suicide bombings.”
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif claimed that extremist groups “actively supported by India” were involved.
“Terrorist attacks against unarmed Pakistani citizens by Indian terror proxies are condemnable,” he said in a statement.
In a separate incident on Monday, a car exploded in India’s capital Delhi, killing eight people and injuring many others.
In response to the attack, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “The conspirators of this heinous act will not be spared. No matter how deep-rooted the conspiracy, all those responsible will be brought to justice.”