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31 killed, mosque reduced to rubble: Inside Pakistan’s deadly Kohat attack
The attack took place on Friday afternoon at the Old Police Lines complex in Kohat.
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At least 31 people, including 16 police personnel, were killed after a suicide attacker rammed an explosives-laden car into a police facility in northwest Pakistan on Friday while officers and their families were praying at a mosque inside the compound.
Images from the site show piles of rubble, blown-out walls, armed soldiers and ambulances lined up outside the damaged police complex.
The attack took place on Friday afternoon at the Old Police Lines complex in Kohat, a town of around 220,000 people in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. A senior police official told AFP on Saturday that more than 100 people had also been injured.
The Old Police Lines complex serves as a district-level police headquarters and houses key offices of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), Special Branch and several other police units.
According to the police official, the attackers stormed the complex before the explosion and gunfight. Several militants remained holed up in the Special Branch section of the compound.
“Several militants are still holed up in the Special Branch section of the Kohat Police Complex,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“An exchange of fire with them has been ongoing since late last night. Their exact number remains unclear,” the official added.
What the visuals show
Images from the site showed military personnel standing near piles of bricks and rubble and walls damaged in the attack. Soldiers carrying assault rifles were seen guarding the complex.
Several ambulances were also seen lined up on a street near the police compound.
The Kohat district health officer said late on Friday that more than 100 people had been injured, with the vast majority being police personnel. Several of those injured were in critical condition.
Militant group claims responsibility
Local militant group Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen Pakistan, a faction linked to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The attack comes amid a rise in militant violence in Pakistan’s KP and Balochistan provinces.
Pakistan has blamed the increase in attacks in the two provinces on militancy emanating from Afghanistan. The Taliban government in Kabul has denied Afghan involvement.
Sharif condemns attack
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack on Friday evening and expressed “deep sorrow and regret over the injury of several people as a result of the blast”.
He directed that the “best medical assistance be provided to the injured” and called for a report into the attack.
President Asif Ali Zardari also expressed “regret” over the casualties and wished those injured a speedy recovery.
“The complete elimination of Fitna-al-Khawarij and terrorists operating with foreign backing is essential for national security,” he said, using another term for the TTP group.
(With AFP inputs)
