Thousands mourn 32 victims of Islamabad Shia mosque bombing in Pakistan

Pakistan blames ‘Indian-backed proxies’ for the attack; New Delhi rejects the accusation as ‘baseless and pointless’.

Thousands of mourners in Pakistan have gathered in Islamabad to bury the victims of a suicide bombing at a Shia mosque in the city during Friday prayers, an attack that killed at least 32 worshippers and injured 170 others, officials said.

The victims are being laid to rest on Saturday as authorities intensify a security crackdown. In northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province’s Peshawar city, police arrested two brothers and a woman during a raid on what they described as the alleged suicide bomber’s hideout.

Friday’s powerful explosion struck the Khadija Tul Kubra mosque in the Tarlai Kalan area on the outskirts of Islamabad. The ISIL (ISIS) armed group later claimed responsibility.

The attack was the deadliest in Islamabad since September 2008, when a suicide truck bomb killed more than 60 people and destroyed part of the five-star Marriott Hotel. While bombings are rare in the heavily guarded capital, this is the second such attack in three months, raising fears of a return to violence in Pakistan’s major urban centres.

Al Jazeera correspondent Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said people he spoke to believe innocent civilians are being targeted.