Official: At least 12 killed in suicide blast outside courts in Pakistani capital

At least 12 people were killed and 27 others injured on Tuesday afternoon in a suicide blast outside the district courts in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told local media.

Naqvi said that a suicide bomber exploded his explosive-laden jacket in front of the Judicial Complex, which houses several district courts.

Police and rescue teams immediately reached the site and moved the bodies and the injured to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences.

An official from the media wing of Islamabad Police told Xinhua that the death toll could rise, as some of the injured were in critical condition.

According to the initial investigation report, the bomber wanted to enter the Judicial Complex but was stymied by the strict security checking process and instead chose to attack a police vehicle outside the complex.

Following the explosion, several vehicles caught fire, with others damaged by the impact.

Police said that the body parts of the suicide bomber were recovered from the site, adding that forensic teams had started the process of identifying the attacker.

The district administration has evacuated the court premises, and security departments have launched a search operation in the area.

Lawyer Malik Khalid Khan, who was inside the Judicial Complex at the time of the attack, said that the attack occurred during the court's break hours when several people went outside.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. However, security sources told Xinhua that the deadly act appeared to have been carried out by the banned outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) operating from Afghanistan.

(With input from agencies)