In a statement released by his spokesperson, Ant\u00f3nio Guterres said he condemned the attack \u201cin the strongest terms,\u201d stressing that violence against civilians and religious sites can never be justified.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Secretary\u2011General reiterates that attacks against civilians and places of worship are unacceptable,\u201d the statement said, adding that those responsible \u201cmust be identified and brought to justice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Guterres extended heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and wished a swift recovery to those injured. He reaffirmed the UN\u2019s solidarity with Pakistan \u201cin its efforts to combat terrorism and violent extremism.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to media reports, at least 31 people were killed and more than 160 injured when a suicide bomber detonated explosives inside a Shia mosque in the Tarlai area of Islamabad.<\/p>\n
Police said the attacker opened fire at the entrance before detonating the device after being confronted by security guards.<\/p>\n
Authorities have declared a state of emergency in the capital, while hospitals issued urgent appeals for blood donations. The bombing is the deadliest attack in Islamabad in more than ten years.<\/p>\n
The UN Resident Coordinator in Pakistan, Mo Yahya, said he was \u201cdeeply shocked and saddened by the horrifying attack at an Imambargah in Islamabad, where people were gathered for Friday prayers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI extend my deepest sympathies to the victims and their families,\u201d he said, urging unity in the face of \u201csuch senseless violence.\u201d<\/p>\n
–UN\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":14545,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-23435","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"The United Nations (UN) Secretary\u2011General has strongly condemned a bombing at a mosque in Pakistan\u2019s capital, Islamabad, which killed dozens of worshippers and left many more injured during Friday prayers.","published_date":null,"news_description":"The United Nations (UN) Secretary\u2011General has strongly condemned a bombing at a mosque in Pakistan\u2019s capital, Islamabad, which killed dozens of worshippers and left many more injured during Friday prayers.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/23435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/23435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26403,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/23435\/revisions\/26403"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=23435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}