Suicide car bombing at Kohat police facility kills at least 16

Kohat, Pakistan. At least 16 people were killed and 57 wounded after a suicide attacker drove an explosives-laden car into a police facility in northwest Pakistan on Friday while officers and their families were praying at a mosque inside, officials said. Five police officers were among those killed.

Attack at police facility

The vehicle struck the facility’s outer wall before gunmen accompanying it opened fire, provincial police chief Zulfikar Hameed said.

Videos shared by rescuers showed the boundary wall destroyed by the blast as people attempted to pull wounded victims from the debris while ambulances arrived. People were seen lying on the road as others in blood-stained clothing tried to help them.

Attackers killed

All seven attackers were killed in the explosion and subsequent gun battle, police said in a statement.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a border province that has seen an increase in attacks by Islamist militants seeking to overthrow the federal government.

Militancy concerns

The interior ministry said the attackers’ “cowardly actions” could not weaken the nation’s “firm resolve”.

Militancy in Pakistan’s border areas has risen sharply in recent months, mainly targeting military and police personnel.

Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, said it was not responsible for Friday’s attack. The group is an umbrella body of several Sunni militant organisations.

Islamabad says militants use safe havens in Afghanistan to train and plan attacks in Pakistan. Afghanistan’s Taliban government has denied the allegation and said militancy is Pakistan’s domestic problem.