(MENAFN) A powerful suicide bombing outside a court complex in Islamabad on Tuesday claimed the lives of more than a dozen people and injured at least 27 others, according to official statements. The explosion occurred near a police vehicle stationed outside the District Court in the city’s G-11 area.

Authorities said the assailant intended to enter the courthouse but detonated explosives near the police van after being prevented from gaining access. Security forces quickly sealed off the site, and an investigation is underway to identify those responsible. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

While the perpetrators remain unknown, Pakistan’s defense minister linked the assault to militant elements across the Afghan border. In a post on social media, he described the “suicide attack” as a “wake-up call,” warning that violence in the Afghan-Pakistan border region of Balochistan represents “a war for all of Pakistan.”

He added, “The rulers of Kabul can stop terrorism in Pakistan, but bringing this war all the way to Islamabad is a message from Kabul, to which – praise be to God – Pakistan has the full strength to respond.”

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