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News At least 31 killed, dozens wounded in suicide blast at Islamabad mosque Powerful explosion rocks Shia mosque in Pakistani capital’s Tarlai Kalan area during Friday prayers. A suicide bombing attack at a Shia mosque in Islamabad has killed at least 31 people and wounded dozens more, in one of the worst such incidents to hit Pakistan’s capital. The powerful explosion occurred at Khadija Tul Kubra mosque, in southeastern Islamabad’s Tarlai Kalan area, during Friday prayers. Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the mosque’s security guards tried to intercept the suspect, who opened fire at them before detonating his explosives among the worshippers. Asif alleged the attacker had been travelling to and from Afghanistan. In a statement, the Islamabad administration said 169 people were transferred to hospital after rescue teams reached the site of the explosion. Footage shared on social media and verified by Al Jazeera showed bloodied bodies lying on the floor of the mosque, surrounded by broken glass and debris. Islamabad resident Aun Shah said his father was “badly” injured in the attack. “He has a hole in his stomach,” he said. Security personnel stand guard outside the mosque following the deadly blast [Farooq Naeem/AFP] Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar condemned the incident as a “cowardly suicide attack on innocent worshippers”. “Targeting places of worship and civilians is a heinous crime against humanity and a blatant violation of Islamic principles. Pakistan stands united against terrorism in all its forms,” he posted on X. At the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences hospital, AFP news agency journalists saw several adults and children being carried in on stretchers or by their arms and legs. Advertisement Medics and bystanders helped unload victims with blood-soaked clothes from the back of ambulances and vehicles. At least one casualty arrived in the boot of a car, while friends and relatives of the wounded screamed as they arrived at the hospital’s heavily guarded emergency ward, the news agency reported. People mourning outside the mosque [AFP] In a statement, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed his “deep grief” following the incident. Meanwhile, President Asif Ali Zardari said “targeting innocent civilians is a crime against humanity”. ed families in this difficult time,” he added. Top Pakistani Shia leader Raja Abbas Nasir said the incident was not only “a serious failure in protecting human lives but also raises significant questions about the performance of the authorities and law enforcement agencies”. The United Kingdom’s ambassador to Pakistan, Jane Marriott, condemned the attack in a statement on social media, calling the violence “abhorrent”. “Outraged and heartbroken by the horrific attack at Imambargah in Islamabad during Friday prayers,” she said. “My thoughts and prayers are with those killed and injured and their families.” The Delegation of the The European Union in Pakistan said it “condemns all acts of terrorism” and offered its condolences to the families of the victims. In November last year, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance of the Islamabad District Judicial Complex, killing at least 12 people and wounding dozens. In September 2008, a suicide bomber detonated a dump truck at Islamabad’s Marriott hotel, killing at least 63 people and wounding more than 250. Al Jazeera’s Abid Hussain contributed to this report

UPDATE 4-Suicide bombing at Shi'ite mosque kills 7 in northern Afghanistan -official (Adds Islamic State claims responsibility for attack, paragraph 4) By Mohammad Yunus Yawar KABUL, Oct 13 (Reuters) - A bombing ripped through a Shi'ite mosque in northern Afghanistan on Friday, killing at least seven worshippers, a government official said. "A blast has taken place at a Shi'ite mosque," Baghlan province official Mawlawi Hashimi said. Seven people were killed during prayer and 15 injured in the attack in the city of Pul e Khumri in Baghlan, he said. All of the casualties were Shi'ites, he said. Islamic State (IS) militant group claimed responsibility for the attack in a post on the Telegram messaging app. Afghanistan's Taliban-run administration has faced an insurgency by IS militants, who have claimed a series of deadly attacks on civilians, foreigners and Taliban security forces in recent months. Sunni Islamist militants consider Shi'ites to be heretics. (Reporting by Mohammad Yunus Yawar; Writing by Asif Shahzad; editing by Christina Fincher, Mark Heinrich and Grant McCool)

Maine teen accused of plotting to attack a Chicago area mosque - CNN It was an ISIS inpired attack

A man set fire to a mosque in Brussels on Monday, killing its 47-year-old imam and injuring another person, in an arson attack that destroyed a large part of the building, police told AFP. Police officials at the scene "confirmed it was the imam" who died when a firebomb was thrown into the Shiite mosque, police spokeswoman Marie Verbeke said. The imam, who succumbed to the fumes in the burnt-out place of worship, was with a second person, who was lightly injured, at the time of the attack. "A suspect was taken into custody at the scene," Verbeke added. A witness saw the suspect, a man, set fire to the building, Verbeke said, but no other details were immediately available. Anderlecht Mayor Vincent Van Goidsenhoven said the suspect threw a Molotov cocktail at the mosque, Belga news agency reported. "The mosque was apparently almost entirely burned down," Verbeke said. Belgian public broadcasters RTBF and a stream of Twitter users said that a group of at least 50 people had gathered outside the Shiite mosque. Police said they received a call at 6:45 pm (1745 GMT) and the body was pulled out 45 minutes later. The area around the mosque, near Belgium's main international railway hub, has a large immigrant Muslim population.