A suicide vehicle bombing at a mosque and the gun battle that followed at a police compound in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa killed at least 31 people, including 16 police personnel, while more than 100 others were injured, a police official told AFP on Saturday.
The attack took place during Friday prayers when an explosives-laden vehicle struck near a mosque inside Kohat’s Old Police Lines compound. The complex houses police and counterterrorism offices and was crowded with worshippers at the time.
At least seven armed attackers subsequently entered the compound and stormed the buildings.
“At least 31 people, including 16 police personnel, have been killed and more than 100 injured so far in the militant attack and suicide bombing,” a police official told AFP.
Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen, which translates as “Alliance of the Mujahideen” and is linked to Pakistani Taliban commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur, claimed responsibility for the attack.
In a subsequent statement on Saturday, police said personnel from the Elite Force and Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), supported by Pakistani forces, cleared the remaining sections of the compound following an operation that continued throughout the night.
“A total of eight terrorists were killed during the operation,” the statement said.
The attack came a day after a roadside bomb struck a Pakistani military convoy in neighbouring Hangu district, killing six soldiers.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the Kohat attack, expressed sorrow over the casualties and directed authorities to accelerate rescue and relief operations.
Pakistan’s Interior Ministry also condemned the attack, saying the attackers’ “cowardly actions” would not weaken “the nation’s firm resolve”.