Even as Pakistan’s offensive against the Taliban entered the fourth day, two synchronised suicide blasts at a university in the heart of Islamabad on Tuesday left seven persons dead and 20 injured. This is the seventh major militant attack in just over a fortnight in Pakistan, and the first ever on a university in the country.
According to the police, two near-simultaneous explosions took place on the male and female campuses of the International Islamic University (IIU) at 3.30pm. The first blast ripped through the faculty of Islamic jurisprudence used by male students and the second shattered the cafeteria for girls. The bodies of seven persons — three male students, two female students and two bombers — were recovered from the spot. The injured, among them 14 girls, were shifted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad.
No militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. Police sources said the bombers failed to approach their targets and triggered their explosives prematurely after being intercepted by security guards.
Chief commissioner of Islamabad Fazeel Asghar declined to identify the possible suspects, saying it would be premature to fix responsibility at the moment. The police have arrested one suspect from the blast scene near the cafeteria.
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