At Least 16 Killed in Suicide Attack on Police Facility in Northwest Pakistan

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Pakistan's police facility that was attacked.

At least 16 people, including five police officers, were killed in northwest Pakistan on Friday after a suicide attacker drove an explosives-laden vehicle into a police facility while people were attending Friday prayers at a mosque inside the compound, police said.

The attack took place in Kohat city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where the vehicle struck an outer wall of the police facility before accompanying gunmen opened fire, provincial police chief Zulfikar Hameed said.

Hameed confirmed that the incident was a suicide attack. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The blast occurred near a mosque where police personnel, their family members and other civilians were offering Friday prayers, according to a police statement.

A gun battle between police and the attackers was continuing, the statement said. One attacker wearing an explosives-laden vest had been killed.

Pakistan’s Interior Ministry condemned what it described as the attackers’ “cowardly actions”, saying they would not weaken the nation’s resolve.

Militant violence in Pakistan’s border regions has increased sharply in recent months, with security forces and police among the main targets.

Islamabad has accused militants of using safe havens in Afghanistan to train and plan attacks in Pakistan. Afghanistan’s Taliban government has denied the allegations, saying militancy is an internal issue for Pakistan.



PUKMEDIA