Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Sunday strongly condemned a suicide attack happened earlier the day in the capital.
Musharraf asked the authorities concerned to conduct a thorough inquiry into the blast to bring the culprits to justice and reiterated the government's commitment to root out terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
Musharraf also directed the local administration to provide every possible medical care to the injured.
He expressed condolences with those who lost their lives in the blast and prayed for eternal rest to the departed souls.
In a separate message, Gilani on Sunday asked his advisor on interior affairs Rehman Malik to immediately conduct an inquiry into the incident.
He said that such incidents were against the teachings of Islamand did not serve any purpose.
While expressing his heartfelt condolences over the loss of innocent lives, Gilani asked the authorities to provide best medical care to the injured.
The official APP news agency said that it might be mentioned that throughout the day the congregation outside Lal Masjid, or the Red Mosque, in Islamabad remained peaceful and the blast occurred away from the gathering.
PM's interior advisor Malik told the media that the security arrangements for the conference were satisfactory but it is difficult to stop suicide bombings.
Officials said that a suicide bomber blew himself up near a police group, killing at least eight of them.
The policemen were deployed near the Red Mosque where thousands of religious students gathered to remember their fellows killed in a military operation in July last year.
TV channels put the death toll from Sunday's blast at 19.
The injured were taken to two hospitals in Islamabad where emergency was declared. Hospital sources said that several injured were in critical condition.
The blast occurred around 6:15 p.m. (1215 GMT), at the Melody Civic Center and the explosion was heard in most parts of the city.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Source: Xinhua
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