By The South Asia Times

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan’s intelligence and law enforcement agencies moved swiftly to dismantle the network behind Friday’s deadly suicide bombing at a Shia mosque in Islamabad, rejecting claims that the attack reflected an intelligence failure, a senior security official told The South Asia Times on Saturday. 

According to the official, intelligence performance should be measured by response time, disruption of militant networks and accountability, rather than by “media-driven narratives.”

Within less than 24 hours of the attack, authorities conducted synchronized raids across four major cities, arrested key facilitators and dismantled what officials described as the operational command structure responsible for the bombing.

Security agencies say evidence confirms the attack was planned and directed from Afghanistan by operatives linked to Daesh. The continued presence of Daesh and other Khwarij-linked organizations operating from Afghan territory, allegedly with the tolerance of the Afghan Taliban, poses a direct threat not only to Pakistan but to regional and international security, the official said.

Authorities stressed that security failures are defined by inaction. In this case, they said, the response was decisive: multiple intelligence-based operations were launched immediately after the attack, additional facilitators were detained and explosives intended for future attacks, including a planned operation in Karachi, were recovered.

The senior official noted that militant operatives often embed themselves within civilian communities and rely on ideological sympathizers for concealment and logistical support. When the state acts pre-emptively to neutralize such threats, resistance sometimes emerges under the banner of civil liberties, a dynamic the official warned can undermine collective security if not addressed with societal clarity and institutional backing.

“A sustainable counterterrorism strategy requires zero tolerance for terrorism and for those who enable it, whether actively or passively,” the official said.

Security officials further described the Islamabad bombing as a deliberate sectarian attack aimed at fracturing Pakistan’s internal cohesion. The target,  a Shia mosque during Friday prayers, was chosen to provoke sectarian fear, delegitimize internal stability and project a false narrative of religious unrest to international audiences, they said.

“This was not spontaneous militancy or a rogue act,” the official added. “It reflects structured planning, facilitation and ideological conditioning originating from Afghan territory.”

The official also pointed to recent decrees by the Afghan Taliban as evidence of a broader ideological shift. By formally declaring Muslims outside a narrow Hanafi interpretation as non-Muslims, the Taliban have institutionalized takfir,  the practice of excommunicating other Muslims, as doctrine, officials allege. This position, they say, mirrors the ideological foundations of Daesh, where takfir serves as a justification for violence against Shia Muslims and other sects.

“The overlap is structural, not incidental,” the official said, adding that it explains both the method and the target of the Islamabad attack.

Despite the attackers’ intent, officials said the operation failed to achieve its strategic objective. Pakistan witnessed a unified response from religious scholars and communities across sectarian lines, preventing the sectarian rupture the attackers sought to ignite.

“What remains is exposure,” the official said. “Afghanistan is no longer merely failing to counter sectarian extremism, it is generating it. The record is now documented, and the intent stands revealed by policy, not allegation.”

At least 31 people were killed and more than 160 injured in the suicide bombing, one of the deadliest attacks in the capital in recent years. Investigations and intelligence-based operations are continuing nationwide, security officials said.