Witnesses recall harrowing scenes as suicide bombing rips through Islamabad mosque: 'During the first bow of Namaz...'

(AP photo)

A massive suicide bombing ripped through a Shiite mosque on the outskirts of Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, during Friday prayers, killing 31 people and wounding at least 169 others.

The blast occurred at the Imam Bargah Qasr-e-Khadijatul Kubra mosque in the Tarlai area on the outskirts of Islamabad.

Recounting the bombing horror, a witness told BBC that he was inside the mosque offering prayers when he first heard the sound of gunfire, moments before the blast.

"After that, we bowed and then prostrated, and then there was an explosion. After which, there were injured people lying everywhere," Abbas was quoted as saying by the BBC.

Abbas further recalled that he "lost his senses" in the immediate aftermath of the explosion before being rescued by emergency services. "Fortunately, I did not suffer much injury," he added.

Another worshipper told AFP that he was standing 7 or 8 rows behind the imam. "During the first bow of the Namaz (prayer ritual), we heard gunfire," Muhammad Kazim told AFP.

Rescuers and wounded described a harrowing scene, with bodies and wounded lying on the mosque's carpeted floor. Hussain Shah said he was praying in the mosque courtyard when he heard a sudden, loud explosion.

“I immediately thought that some big attack has happened,” he said. He then went into the mosque to utter chaos — many of the wounded were screaming and crying out for help. Shah said he counted around 30 bodies inside the mosque, while the number of wounded appeared to be significantly higher, according to abc news.

The blast marked the deadliest attack in Islamabad since 2008, when a suicide bomber targeted the Marriott Hotel in the capital, killing 63 people and injuring more than 250 others.

More recently, in November, a suicide attack outside a court in Islamabad killed 12 people.