At least 31 persons were killed and 169 others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a Shia mosque during Friday prayers in Pakistan’s capital in one of the worst terror attacks targeting the community in recent years, officials said.The powerful explosion, which was heard from a far distance, took place at Khadijah al-Kubra mosque-cum-imambargah in the Tarlai area of Islamabad, the police said in a statement. The suicide bomber was stopped at the gate of the imambargah, but he detonated himself, the police and eyewitnesses said.Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Irfan Nawaz Memon confirmed that at least 31 persons were killed and 169 others injured, several of them critically. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast. However, police sources said that the attacker was a foreign national and had links with Fitna al Khwaraji, a term used for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).A cousin of Islamabad Inspector General of Police (IGP) Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi was among those killed in the blast, while another relative of the police chief was injured, said Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) police spokesperson Taqi Jawad.Citing eyewitnesses, Geo News reported that the terrorist first opened fire and then detonated himself. TV footage showed multiple bodies lying on the floor surrounded by shards of glass and debris.Police and Rescue 1122 personnel were involved in rescue operations. Officials fear the death toll could increase as some of the injured were in a critical condition. An emergency was declared in the hospitals of the capital to deal with the situation as the injured were being shifted to hospitals.Friday’s attack came when Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was visiting Pakistan on a two-day state visit beginning Thursday.The attack comes as the security forces killed 24 militants in two separate incidents in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, bordering Afghanistan.The TTP, also known as the Pakistan Taliban, has been blamed for several deadly attacks across Pakistan, including an attack on army headquarters in 2009, assaults on military bases and the 2008 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, the deadliest attack in the national capital that killed 54 people and wounded more than 250. PTI