At least 31 people, including 16 police officers, were killed in a combined explosion and gun attack on a police headquarters in Kohat, a town in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, officials said Saturday, with clashes continuing at the site.
The assailants launched the assault on Friday afternoon at the Old Police Lines complex, which serves as the district-level police headquarters. The facility houses key offices of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), Special Branch, and other police units. According to a senior police official who requested anonymity, more than 100 people were injured, most of them police personnel, with several in critical condition.
The police official reported that several militants remained entrenched in the Special Branch portion of the complex, with security forces engaging them in an ongoing exchange of fire since late Friday night. The exact number of attackers involved has not been confirmed.
The attack was claimed by the militant group Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen Pakistan, which is linked to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a Taliban-affiliated insurgent organization. Images from the scene showed military personnel guarding the damaged compound amid rubble and destroyed walls. Multiple ambulances were lined up near the facility to assist the wounded.
Pakistan has linked a rise in militant attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the neighboring province of Balochistan to insurgents operating from Afghanistan. The Pakistani government accuses elements within Afghanistan of supporting cross-border attacks, a claim the Taliban government in Kabul denies. These tensions have escalated into armed confrontations, with Pakistan conducting airstrikes targeting militants across the eastern Afghan border. However, the Taliban administration and the United Nations have reported that some Pakistani airstrikes have resulted in civilian casualties.
Following the attack, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the violence and expressed sorrow over the casualties, emphasizing the need to provide prompt medical care to those injured. He also called for a thorough investigation into the incident. President Asif Ali Zardari shared similar sentiments, expressing regret for the loss of life and wishing a speedy recovery to the wounded. He reiterated the importance of eliminating terrorist groups like the TTP, referring to them as “Fitna-al-Khawarij,” and highlighted their activities as threats to national security.