A suicide bomber had carried out the attack, apparently aided by security personnel, according to an investigation. A breakaway faction of a terror group linked to Afghanistan's Taliban known as the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar faction of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), took credit for the blast, calling it revenge for the death of a former TTP commander blown up by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan in August. Pakistan has denied killing the former commander. For many in Pakistan, the bombing came as the unwelcome confirmation of a disturbing trend. While terrorism had become an almost daily occurrence during the 20-year civil war in neighboring Afghanistan, Islamabad had assumed that with the end of major fighting in 2021 and the victory of the Taliban, these attacks would end. The Taliban, so the thinking went, were beholden to Pakistan out of gratitude for years of support.