Islamabad, Pakistan – At around 12:30 pm (07:30 GMT) on Tuesday afternoon, Khalid Khan, a 25-year-old lawyer, was waiting to have lunch with his friend Fawad Khan, in the cafeteria of the Islamabad District Judicial Complex.
Suddenly, there was a loud explosion that shook the cafeteria and the entire judicial complex.
“At first I thought the roof was going to collapse on me,” Khaled told Al Jazeera outside the complex two hours later.
The complex was subjected to a suicide attack. According to official figures, at least 12 people were killed and more than 30 others were injured, many of them in serious condition, when the bombing occurred. The suicide bomber blew himself up At the entrance to the court complex.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif accusedSponsored Agents from India“Operating from Afghanistan to carry out the attack.
India, where a car explosion on Monday evening killed at least 13 people, said it “unequivocally” rejects the “baseless allegations being made by Pakistan’s clearly obsessed leadership.”
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In a statement issued Tuesday evening, Randhir Jaiswal, spokesman for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, said Islamabad is trying to “distract its people’s attention from the ongoing military-inspired constitutional subversion and power grab within the country,” in an apparent reference to the 27th constitutional amendment being debated in Pakistan’s National Assembly.
“The international community is well aware of the reality and will not be fooled by Pakistan’s desperate tricks to divert attention,” Jaiswal added.
The constitutional amendment has drawn criticism from activists, judges and opposition parties to grant lifelong immunity from criminal prosecution to the country’s top military officers, and to create a parallel federal constitutional court, which many fear will undermine the Supreme Court.
But on Tuesday, the judicial complex in Islamabad was shaken, as the explosion there reverberated throughout South Asia.
The explosion was heard in residential areas and nearby administrative buildings. Shortly after, videos of the incident spread on social media, showing flames and plumes of smoke rising from a charred car near a security checkpoint at the entrance to the complex.
In other clips, lawyers were seen rushing to help those on the road while security personnel surrounded the building.
Eyewitnesses said that at the time of the explosion, there were approximately 2,000 people inside the complex, including judges, lawyers, litigants and court employees.
They described the explosion as so powerful that windows in many courtrooms were shattered, and body parts were scattered at the site, including the bomber’s head.
With different gates in and out, and the main gate closed immediately after the explosion, police initially ordered people to stay inside before allowing them to leave about 25 minutes later.
Among them was Muhammad Shehzad Butt, a 52-year-old lawyer. He said that he was heading towards the cafeteria when the explosion occurred.
“It was absolute chaos, and in a state of panic, most people were trying to get out of the complex, causing chaos at the gate, while many others tried to get back inside the building,” he told Al Jazeera outside the complex.
Fawad Khan (left) and Khalid Khan (right) outside the court building after the suicide attack [Abid Hussain/Al Jazeera]
After the attack, the authorities cordoned off the area and placed barriers to prevent the media from entering or approaching the site where the suicide bomber detonated the explosive devices.
A large number of journalists gathered outside the complex, hoping to take pictures, but officials initially prevented them from accessing.
By then, most of the litigants had left, though some lawyers remained nearby, speaking with reporters and YouTube vloggers recording their accounts.
Attorney Butt said that when he arrived at court in the morning, the security checks appeared routine but thorough. However, he heard from colleagues that there was an extra layer of screening that day.
This was confirmed by Khalid, a lawyer from Quetta who has worked in Islamabad for the past five years.
He said: “This morning, when Fouad and I arrived at the court building, we had to wait a little longer as there was an additional screening at the entrance. There was no concern, but we just felt that perhaps some dignitaries might be visiting the court or some delegations.”
Although dozens of people were killed, including one lawyer, both Khalid and Fouad, originally from Swat, said they did not feel afraid about returning to work the next day.
“We’ve seen enough of this [violence]“These things don’t scare us,” Khaled said.