Pakistan's Anti-Terror Push Faces Tough Questions As Islamabad Suicide Blast Angers Shia Groups

Last Updated:February 07, 2026, 23:39 IST

The suicide bombing at a mosque in Islamabad has triggered outrage among Shia Muslims across the Kashmir Valley, who have long been targeted by militant groups in Pakistan.

Pakistan’s so-called tough action against terrorism has been put to the test after the suicide blast at a Shiite mosque in Islamabad, which caused great anger and resentment among Shia groups in the country.

Shia Muslims are a minority in Pakistan and have long been targeted by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or the Islamic State (ISIS) through deadly attacks. The recent suicide bombing at the Imam Bargah Qasr-e-Khadijatul Kubra on Friday, which killed 31 people, prompted widespread outrage among Shia Muslims, even in India’s Jammu and Kashmir.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi is in the crosshairs of the Shia leadership as Allama Hussain Muqaddasi, Chief of Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Fiqh-e-Jafariya (TNFJ), criticised the government’s approach towards terrorism and demanded justice.

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“If you have banned over 80 organisations, you should have reined them in as well; the nation is suffering the consequences of your flawed policies," he told Naqvi. “​You have given banned elements a free hand, a policy you must urgently reconsider."

Furthermore, prominent Shia cleric Syed Iqbal Razvi also confronted military personnel and ISI groups in Pakistan, accusing them of protecting terrorists and promoting the ethnic cleansing of Shia Muslims. “You are raising takfiri (Terrorist) groups. You are protecting terrorists. You are responsible for our ethnic cleansing. And now you want us to stay silent about it?" he said.

‘Deep Sense Of Betrayal’

However, Naqvi promised the Shia leadership that those who planned the suicide attack will be brought to justice at all costs, but top intelligence sources told CNN-News18 that the bombing has triggered a deep sense of betrayal among Pakistan’s Shia community.

Despite the Pakistan government’s assurances of banning terror outfits, Shias in Pakistan feel exposed and Muqaddasi’s remarks displayed deep grievance in the community, as per sources. They said the matter of concern for Shia families did not concern geopolitics, rather their places of worship being transformed into killing grounds.

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Furthermore, members of the Shia community held multiple spontaneous protests in Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar, Baramulla, and Bandipora to condemn the horrific bombing. Protest rallies were reported at several key locations, with participants carrying banners and chanting slogans that explicitly targeted the Pakistani establishment.

Intelligence sources suggest that these protests represent a significant “credibility crisis" for Pakistan’s long-standing narrative as the protector of Kashmiri Muslims. For decades, Islamabad has positioned itself as the guardian of religious interests in the region, yet the repeated targeting of Shias within its own borders is dismantling this image.

Meanwhile, he Islamic State (ISIS) group has claimed responsibility for the suicide attack. SIS said one of its militants had targeted the congregation, detonating an explosive vest and “inflicting a large number of deaths and injuries", according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist communications.

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