Pakistan in state of war: Defence Minister Khawaja Asif after Islamabad bombing

Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the country was "in a state of war", describing the latest "suicide bombing" near Islamabad District Judicial Complex as a "wake-up call" for the nation.

The explosion killed at least 12 people outside the Islamabad District Judicial Complex. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

He remarked that in the current situation, expecting progress in peace talks with Afghanistan's Taliban-led government would be unrealistic.

"In this environment, it would be futile to hold out greater hope for successful negotiations with the rulers of Kabul," he said on X.

"We are in a state of war. Anyone who thinks that the Pakistan Army is fighting this war in the Afghan-Pakistan border region and the remote areas of Balochistan should take today's suicide attack at the Islamabad district courts as a wake-up call: this is a war for all of Pakistan, in which the Pakistan Army is giving daily sacrifices and making the people feel secure," he wrote on X.

"The rulers of Kabul can stop terrorism in Pakistan, but bringing this war all the way to Islamabad is a message from Kabul, to which–praise be to God–Pakistan has the full strength to respond," he also said in the X post.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has also condemned what he described as a "suicide blast" near the Islamabad District Judicial Complex.

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