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Bomb Attack Kills At Least 16 in Pakistani Mosque
Confirmed
In Short: A car bombing at a mosque in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province killed at least 16 people and injured more than 50 during Friday prayers.
At least 16 people, including five police officers, were killed and more than 50 injured when a car laden with explosives rammed into a mosque in Kohat, near the Afghan border, during Friday prayers.
The attack, which began with an explosion near a mosque inside Kohat’s Old Police Lines compound, left extensive damage to the mosque, with parts of its roof and walls collapsed.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but an ISIL affiliate and the Pakistan Taliban (TTP) are active in the region and regularly target troops.
The explosion was so powerful that it created a crater outside the mosque, and search-and-rescue teams were working through the damaged mosque and surrounding buildings.
The attack followed a series of violent incidents in Pakistan's remote regions near the Afghan border, with the latest incident involving a car bombing at a police post that killed at least 21 officers and left the area in ruins.
What's confirmed
- At least 16 people, including five police officers, were killed and more than 50 injured when a car laden with explosives rammed into a mosque in Kohat, near the Afghan border, during Friday prayers.
- The attack, which began with an explosion near a mosque inside Kohat’s Old Police Lines compound, left extensive damage to the mosque, with parts of its roof and walls collapsed.
- No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but an ISIL affiliate and the Pakistan Taliban (TTP) are active in the region and regularly target troops.
- The explosion was so powerful that it created a crater outside the mosque, and search-and-rescue teams were working through the damaged mosque and surrounding buildings.
- The attack followed a series of violent incidents in Pakistan's remote regions near the Afghan border, with the latest incident involving a car bombing at a police post that killed at least 21 officers and left the area in ruins.
What's still developing
- At least 15 bodies and more than 50 injured were taken to hospital, said Dr Tahir Shah, according to the dpa news agency.
- There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
- Islamabad accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers of allowing fighters who orchestrate attacks in Pakistan to operate from Afghan territory.
- Officials in Kabul deny the accusation and cross-border attacks have been carried out in recent months.
- Pakistan’s military said 10 suspected militants were also killed in separate operations in Hangu and North Waziristan between Sept. 15 and 17.
- No group immediately claimed the attack and police did not identify a specific group as being responsible.
- One of the assailants has reportedly been killed, an officer says, and a rescue operation is under way.
- In a statement, Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari expressed "his best wishes for the swift recovery of those injured in the explosion." MI5 accepts it gave evidence based on lies in neo-Nazi spy case Twenty women had breasts removed needlessly, says NHS trust Woman tells BBC of trauma after unnecessary breast cancer surgery Woman tells BBC of trauma after unnecessary breast cancer surgery.