A suicide bomber carried out an attack in Islamabad on Sunday killing more than 11 people. The explosives were detonated near a group of police officers guarding an area near the Red Mosque. The police personnel were guarding a restive crowd commemorating a deadly clash between Islamic militants and government security forces in July 2007.

The powerful blast also wounded at least 22 people according to the staff of a nearby hospital. Most of the dead and wounded were police officers, the medics said.

Authorities said about 30 police officers were standing on a sidewalk near the police station situated a few hundred yards from the Red Mosque when the suicide bomber detonated the explosives.

“I was standing with my niece. We were saying, ‘Why are there so many police officers standing down there?’ And I went inside and just as I entered, the bomb went off. I came back out and saw 7 to 10 bodies lying on the ground. Some were in uniform and some were in pieces,” said Mr. Ahmad according to The New York Times.

Several thousands of people had gathered near the Red Mosque to commemorate a siege which lasted 8 days and ended when commandos stormed the sprawling complex before dawn on July 10. More than 100 people died in that conflict.
 
The suicide blast occurred on Sunday at about 7:30 p.m. and, after the explosion, the medical staff was very prompt in intervening and rushing dozens of wounded people to nearby hospitals. The large crowd which had gathered at the commemoration fled the area dodging police barricades previously set up as part of the tight security for the event.