Pakistan condemns Manchester blast, expresses solidarity with victims

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday strongly condemned the blast which hit a concert at Manchester Arena, in what British police suspect as a terrorist attack.

“We strongly condemn terrorist incident in #Manchester that caused loss of 19 precious human lives & injured scores,” Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said in a Twitter post earlier today.

"Pakistan expresses solidarity with Govt &ppl of UK & offers condolences to the bereaved families & pray for recovery of injured," he tweeted.

Following updates from the British authorities that the death toll in the blast had risen to 22, Nafees Zakaria tweeted, "PM Nawaz Sharif has strongly condemned the explosion that occurred in #Manchester, resulting in death of 22 persons and injuring many others."

"PM stated that elimination of terrorism requires concerted efforts &such acts targeted towards innocent people is highly condemnable," he continued.

"Pakistan stands in solidarity with the Govt & ppl of UK against all forms of terrorism - PM Nawaz"

"We deeply sympathize with the families of the deceased - PM Nawaz," the spokesperson's post added.

At least 22 people were killed in a blast at a concert in the English city of Manchester late Monday night, where US singer Ariana Grande had been performing.

22 killed in blast at Ariana Grande concert in Manchester

If confirmed as an incident of terrorism, it would be the deadliest attack in Britain by militants since July 2005

British police said the incident, which left at least 50 people injured, was being treated as a terrorist attack. They added that the lone attacker had died at the site of the blast. 

Police carried out a controlled explosion on a suspect device a few hours after the blast.