At least 21 people were killed and more than 100 injured when a vehicle loaded with explosives struck a mosque building near police headquarters in Kohat, north-western Pakistan, according to officials cited by the BBC. The explosion occurred at about 13:15 local time during Friday prayers.
Fifteen police officers and a four-year-old child were among those killed, Pakistan’s APP news agency reported. The attack also involved gunmen firing on a police facility in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa city. Video verified by the BBC showed the site covered in rubble, with people helping casualties.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police Inspector General Zulfikar Hameed described the incident as a “suicide attack”, according to Reuters. Reuters also reported that all seven attackers had been killed in the explosion and the gun battle that followed. The supplied reports did not identify the attackers.
No group had claimed responsibility at the time of the reports. Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack, while President Asif Ali Zardari expressed his best wishes for the swift recovery of those injured, according to a statement.
A clearance operation was under way at the site. The attack comes amid a reported rise in militancy in Pakistan’s border areas, where armed groups have targeted military and police personnel. Islamabad says militants use Afghanistan as a safe haven to train and plan attacks; Afghanistan’s Taliban government rejects that accusation and says militant groups are a domestic problem for Pakistan.