ISLAMABAD: At least 11 persons including additional session judge Rafaqat Awan were killed and 29 others injured in an attack on district courts in Islamabad on Monday.
However, the spokesman of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the banned terror outfit which has claimed responsibility of so many terrorist attacks across the country and on Saturday announced one-month ceasefire with the government, Shahidullah Shahid said that his group was not responsible for the attack.
The TTP spokesman said that that his group condemns the attack on the court in Islamabad and the recent terror attacks should not be linked with the organization. He further said that the TTP will not violate the ceasefire.
Police said that two unidentified assailants stormed courts in F-8 area of Islamabad while firing and hurling hand grenades. Later, the attackers blew them up, police added.
The Inspector General Police Islamabad Sikandar Hayat told media that one suicide attacker attacked court of additional session judge‚ while the other hit a place near the office of bar association.
Hayat said that it seems that the attackers intended to free their arrested accomplices but they could not achieve their target. The IG said that two to three unidentified assailants opened fire in the court area.
The injured were rushed to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) for medical treatment, where the spokesperson Dr. Ayesha confirmed that 11 dead bodies had so far been received. The PIMS spokesperson said that the injured were being provided medical treatment on emergency basis.
Police and other security personnel reached the blast site and cordoned off the area, while an investigation into the incident went underway.
Meanwhile, President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif strongly condemned the incident and expressed his grief and sorrow over the incident, while the federal minister for interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan sought report from Director General National Crisis Management Cell about the incident.
Moreover, the Pakistan Bar Council has announced to observe black day across the country on Tuesday. The Vice Chairman Islamabad Bar Council has described the attack as an act of cowardice.
