In the Lal Masjid bombing of 6 July 2008 at 7:50 pm local time, a 30-year-old suicide bomber blew himself up near the Lal Masjid mosque in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, killing 18 policemen and 1 civilian. The bombing occurred on the first anniversary of the siege of Lal Masjid and was likely a revenge attack. The attack occurred even amid tight security in Islamabad, where thousands of Islamic students in Pakistan came to mark the day when Pakistani troops stormed Lal Masjid. Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik, who visited the blast site, said about 12,000 students attended the rally and the attack was directed at police.