Mourners gathered in Islamabad on Wednesday for the funeral of a lawyer killed in a suicide bombing outside the gates of a district court.

Zubair Aslam Ghumman was one of 12 killed in the attack which took place at a court on the edge of Pakistan's capital, next to a residential area on Tuesday.

Pakistan has opened a probe into the incident which has underscored the challenges facing the government as it struggles with militant attacks, border tensions and a fragile ceasefire with Afghanistan.

"This was our very good friend, Zubair Aslam Ghumman Sahib — a noble and selfless person," fellow lawyer Inam Ul Rehman said as he attended the funeral on wendesday.

The attack has also raised alarms that despite multiple operations by the security forces to crush militants, they are still capable of mounting high-profile bombings in the Pakistani capital.

Authorities have struggled with a surge in militant attacks in recent years but until Tuesday's bombing, Islamabad has largely been considered a safer place.

Forensic teams and police were combing through debris Wednesday at the site of the blast, which had been sealed to preserve evidence.

Across the city, grief-stricken relatives were receiving the bodies of their slain loved ones at an Islamabad hospital.

Later, funeral prayers got underway for some of the slain victims.

Most of the 27 people wounded in the bombing had been released home after treatment.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi alleged in the immediate aftermath of Tuesday's bombing that the attack was "carried out by Indian-backed elements and Afghan Taliban proxies" linked to the Pakistani Taliban, though he said authorities were "looking into all aspects" of the explosion.

He offered no evidence for his claim.

India and Afghanistan's Taliban-led government, which both reject Pakistan’s accusations, have been working to increase ties in areas like business and humanitarian aid, despite not having formal diplomatic relations.

Naqvi also blamed the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, for the attack.

Pakistan has long claimed that the Afghan Taliban have been sheltering TTP leaders and fighters, a claim Kabul denies.

The TTP denied involvement while a breakaway faction, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, claimed responsibility only to have one of its commanders later on Tuesday contradict that claim.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar split from the TTP after its leader was killed in Afghanistan in 2022; some members have since rejoined the TTP while others remain independent, underscoring deep divisions within Pakistan’s militant networks.

The Islamabad attack drew widespread condemnation from the international community.

AP video shot by Muhammad Yousaf