Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has declared that the country is now “in a state of war” following a deadly suicide bombing near the Islamabad District Judicial Complex that killed at least 12 people and injured several others. The attack, which struck one of the most secure zones in the capital, has intensified fears of a resurgent wave of terrorism spreading beyond Pakistan’s border regions.
Calling the blast a “wake-up call”, Asif said Pakistan could no longer afford to underestimate the growing threat posed by militant networks operating from across the Afghan border. He directly blamed Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government, alleging that terror groups sheltered there were now extending their operations deep inside Pakistan. “The war is no longer limited to the Durand Line. It has entered our cities,” he warned.
In a statement posted on X, Asif said, “Anyone who thinks that the Pakistan Army is fighting this war only in the border regions or in Balochistan should take today’s suicide attack as a wake-up call. This is a war for all of Pakistan.” He added that while peace talks with Kabul had been pursued in good faith, “it would be futile to expect any meaningful progress in the current environment.”
The minister also accused the Taliban rulers in Kabul of enabling cross-border terrorism by providing safe havens to groups such as the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks over the past year. “The rulers of Kabul can stop terrorism in Pakistan,” Asif said, “but bringing this war all the way to Islamabad is a message to which Pakistan has the full strength to respond.”
The bombing, which targeted the entrance to the judicial complex, ripped through parked vehicles and sent shrapnel flying into nearby buildings. Security forces cordoned off the area as ambulances rushed victims to hospitals. Investigators are still determining whether the attack was carried out by a single suicide bomber or a coordinated cell.
No group has yet claimed responsibility, but the blast follows a surge in TTP-linked violence since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in 2021. Pakistani officials say militant infiltration from Afghanistan has increased sharply in recent months despite repeated appeals to Kabul to rein in extremist factions operating on its soil.
President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the bombing, calling it a “heinous act of terror” and pledging that the perpetrators would be brought to justice. He urged security agencies to tighten surveillance in urban centers and coordinate intelligence operations nationwide.
The attack marks one of the most serious terror incidents in Islamabad in recent years and underscores Pakistan’s deteriorating security situation. Analysts say it reflects the collapse of earlier hopes that engagement with the Taliban government in Kabul would help stabilise Pakistan’s western frontier. Instead, the violence appears to be migrating inland — signaling, as Asif warned, that Pakistan’s “war against terror” is now entering a new and perilous phase.
