ISLAMABAD — A suicide bomber struck outside a court in Pakistan’s capital Tuesday, detonating his explosives next to a police car and killing 12 people in the latest of an uptick in violence across the country.

Witnesses described mayhem. The blast, which also wounded 27 people, was heard for miles and came at a time of day when the area outside the district court in Islamabad is typically crowded with hundreds of visitors.

A breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar group, claimed responsibility for the attack, in messages to reporters from the group’s leader, Omar Mukkaram Khurasani. However, an influential commander within the group, Sarbakaf Mohmand, also sent messages disavowing any claim to the attack.

The group quit the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP, after the head of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar was killed in a blast in Afghanistan in 2022. Though some members recently rejoined the TTP, others keep their distance, indicating continuing differences among the insurgents.

The TPP is separate from, but allied with, the Afghan Taliban that leads the neighboring country. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar has staged smaller attacks in the past but its ability to hit the Pakistani capital is likely to further compound the struggles of the Pakistani government as it faces a resurgent Pakistani Taliban, border tensions and a fragile ceasefire with Afghanistan.

Without giving evidence, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi alleged the attack was “carried out by Indian-backed elements and Afghan Taliban proxies” linked to the Pakistani Taliban. Still, he said authorities are “looking into all aspects” of the explosion.

New Delhi rejected the allegation as baseless. “The international community is well aware of the reality and will not be misled by Pakistan’s desperate diversionary ploys,” Randhir Jaswal, the spokesperson at the Ministry of External Affairs, said in a statement.

The attack drew condemnation, including from the United States, China, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a full investigation and reiterated that “all perpetrators of terrorism must be held accountable,” U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said.

Outside the court

The attacker tried to “enter the court premises but, failing to do so, targeted a police vehicle,” Naqvi told journalists. State-run media and two security officials earlier said a car bomb caused the explosion.

The casualties were mostly passersby or those who had arrived for court appointments, according to Islamabad police.

More than a dozen wounded people screamed for help as ambulances rushed to the scene. “People started running in all directions,” Mohammad Afzal, who was at the court at the time, told The Associated Press.

Naqvi said the bomber was not included in the death toll of 12. Police said a severed head was identified as the attacker’s, which Naqvi said confirmed the blast was a suicide attack. The attacker also was seen in security footage, he said.

Earlier attack at an army-run college

Earlier, Pakistani security forces said they foiled an attempt by militants to take cadets hostage at an army-run college, when a suicide car bomber and five other attackers targeted the facility in a northwestern province. The authorities blamed TTP. The TTP denied involvement in Monday’s attack at the college, and spokesman Mohammad Khurasani also denied involvement in Tuesday’s attack.