A worshipper at a Shi’a mosque in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, recounted the terrifying moment when a suicide bomb detonated, claiming the lives of dozens right after the commencement of Friday prayers.

Muhammad Kazim, aged 52, shared that he had arrived at the Imam Bargah Qasr-e-Khadijatul Kubra mosque shortly after 1 p.m. local time on Friday. He positioned himself around seven or eight rows away from the imam, preparing for the service.

“We had just begun the Namaz (prayer ritual) when we suddenly heard gunfire,” Kazim recounted to AFP while standing outside the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital, where many of the injured were being treated.

“As we were still bowed in prayer, the explosion happened,” he added.

Although Kazim, originally from Gilgit-Baltistan in northern Pakistan and now residing in Islamabad, emerged unharmed, he rushed his injured friend to PIMS for medical attention.

“Whether it was a suicide bombing was uncertain, but the explosion was tremendously powerful and resulted in numerous casualties,” Kazim observed.

“Debris fell from the roof, and windows were shattered,” he added. “When I got outside, many bodies were scattered … Many people lost their lives.”

The so-called Islamic State (IS) group has claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist communications.

Dozens killed, over 150 injured

Another worshipper, Imran Mahmood, described a gunfight between the suicide bomber, a possible accomplice and volunteer security personnel at the mosque.

“The suicide attacker was trying to move forward, but one of our injured volunteers fired at him from behind, hitting him in the thigh,” Mahmood, in his fifties, told Agence France-Presse.

“He fell but got up again. Another man accompanying him opened fire on our volunteers,” he said, adding the attacker “then jumped onto the gate and detonated the explosives”.

As of Sunday morning, the death toll stood at 32, with at least 170 wounded. The death toll was expected to rise.

The attack was the deadliest in the Pakistani capital since September 2008, when 60 people were killed in a suicide truck bomb blast that destroyed part of the five-star Marriott hotel.

Pakistan’s minister of interior Mohsin Naqvi said overnight that authorities had arrested four people believed to have helped the suicide bomber.

Naqvi said in a press conference, that the four people, including the believed mastermind, had been arrested following raids in Peshawar and Nowshera.

‘Never seen proper security’

Describing the aftermath of the attack, Kazim said unhurt worshippers went to the aid of those wounded.

“People tried to help on their own, carrying two or three bodies in the trunks of their vehicles, while ambulances arrived about 20 to 25 minutes later,” he told AFP.

“No-one was allowed near the mosque afterwards.”

Kazim, who has performed Friday prayers at the mosque “for the past three to four weeks”, said security had been lax.

“I have never seen proper security in place,” he said.

“Volunteers manage security on their own, but they lack the necessary equipment to do it effectively.

“Shi’a mosques are always under threat, and the government should take this seriously and provide adequate security.”

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