Police Command in Kohat Attack Leaves 31 Dead and More Than 100 Wounded
Pakistani officials said at least 31 people, including 16 police personnel, were killed and more than 100 others injured in a suicide bombing and gun battle at the Kohat police command complex in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
According to the officials, the incident began on Friday when a suicide attacker rammed a vehicle packed with explosives into the entrance of the Kohat police headquarters. Parts of the mosque inside the compound, where a number of police personnel and members of their families were offering Friday prayers, were heavily damaged.
After the explosion, armed attackers entered the compound and engaged Pakistani security forces. The fighting continued until Saturday morning.
The Pakistani army said on Saturday that a clearing operation ended after nearly 20 hours and that all eight attackers had been killed. In its statement, the army described the attackers as members of “Fitna al-Khawarij” and Indian proxy forces.
The group Tehreek-e-Mujahideen Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack. The assault on the Kohat police compound is described as one of the deadliest security incidents in recent months in Pakistan.
Kohat is located in northwestern Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which, along with Balochistan, has seen an increase in militant attacks in recent years. Both provinces border Afghanistan.
