At least 30 killed in suicide bombing attack on Pakistan mosque

Updated on: February 6, 2026 / 7:26 AM EST / CBS News

A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a mosque in a suburb of Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Friday, killing at least 31 people and leaving almost 170 others wounded, a spokesman for the city government said in a message shared with journalists. 

A local security official said the attack came while the Shiite Muslim mosque was packed with people for Friday prayers.

Images from the scene showed dozens of people lying bloodied on the floor of the Imambargah Khadijatul Kubra mosque in Islamabad's Tarlai suburb, while others were piled into any vehicles available to be transported to local hospitals.

Children could be seen among the casualties.

The security official, who spoke to CBS News on the condition of anonymity, noted that there hadn't been a major attack since a suicide bombing that hit a court in Islamabad about two months ago, prompting the alert level in the capital to be raised to its highest.

"Apparently bombers failed to reach big targets inside the capital and turned to soft targets such as mosques and public places in the suburbs," the official said.