Death toll from attack at police HQ in Kohat rises to 31
- Kohat's police headquarters attack left 31 dead, including 16 police, and over 100 injured, with militants still fighting security forces
An explosion and gun attack at a police headquarters in Kohat, Pakistan, killed at least 31 people, including 16 police, and injured over 100, with fighting against militants ongoing.
- Rising death toll and over 100 injured in the attack.
- Ongoing fighting with militants inside the police complex.
- Condemnations from Pakistan's Prime Minister and President.
KOHAT: The death toll from an explosion and gun attack at a police headquarters in Kohat rose to at least 31, including 16 police personnel, a senior police official told AFP on Saturday, with fighting ongoing.
Attackers stormed the Old Police Lines complex at Kohat, a town of around 220,000 people in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, on Friday afternoon.
The police compound serves as a district-level police headquarters, housing key offices of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), Special Branch and several other police units.
“At least 31 people, including 16 police personnel, have been killed and more than 100 injured so far in the militant attack and suicide bombing,” the official said.
“Several militants are still holed up in the Special Branch section of the Kohat Police Complex,” the police 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.
15 cops among 21 martyred in Kohat bomb blast: police
A statement from the Kohat district health officer late on Friday said that more than 100 people had been injured, the vast majority of them police personnel, and several were in a critical condition.
Rubble, blown-out walls
AFP images showed military personnel standing by piles of bricks, rubble and blown-out walls following the attack, with soldiers carrying assault rifles guarding the complex.
Several ambulances were seen lining a street near the police compound.
CM slams suicide attack in Kohat
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack on Friday evening, expressing “deep sorrow and regret over the injury of several people as a result of the blast”.
He directed the “best medical assistance be provided to the injured” and called for a report into the attack.
President Asif Ali Zardari expressed “regret” over the casualties, sending his “best wishes for the speedy recovery of those injured in the blast”.
“The complete elimination of Fitna-al-Khawarij and terrorists operating with foreign backing is essential for national security,” he said.
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