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Pakistan Mosque Attack Kills At Least 16
Confirmed
In Short: A bomb attack at a mosque in Pakistan's northwest killed at least 16 people, including five police officers, and injured more than 50.
An explosive-laden car was rammed into the entrance of a mosque located at a police headquarters in Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, near the Afghan border, as people gathered for Friday prayers.
The attack began with an explosion near a mosque inside Kohat’s Old Police Lines compound, which houses police and counterterrorism offices, and was followed by a gun battle.
At least 15 bodies and more than 50 injured were initially taken to hospital, according to Dr Tahir Shah, quoted by the dpa news agency.
The mosque was badly damaged and the police station’s outer wall collapsed, with footage showing extensive damage to the mosque, including part of its roof and walls collapsed.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion was likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), given the region's history of militant activity.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack and expressed sorrow over the casualties, while the Ministry of Interior said the “cowardly actions” of the attackers could not weaken the “nation’s firm resolve”.
What's confirmed
- The Ministry of Interior said the “cowardly actions” of the attackers could not weaken the “nation’s firm resolve”.
- The mosque was badly damaged and the police station’s outer wall collapsed.
What's still developing
- Attack not immediately claimed, but an ISIL affiliate and the Pakistan Taliban (TTP) are both active in the region and regularly target troops.
- There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
- Provincial police chief Zulfikar Hameed confirmed that the bombing had been a suicide attack.
- PESHAWAR: At least 16 people, including five police officers, were killed in explosions at a police complex in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, where security forces were battling armed attackers, provincial police said.
- Search-and-rescue teams were working through the damaged mosque and surrounding buildings.
- Pakistan’s military said 10 suspected militants were also killed in separate operations in Hangu and North Waziristan between Sept. 15 and 17.
- The bombing occurred in Kohat, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, when an attacker apparently rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the mosque, said Zulfiqar Hameed, the provincial police chief.
- Friday’s bombing came a day after Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin met with Sharif, Pakistan army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and intelligence chief Lt.