Kohat police complex attack during Friday prayers: 16 dead

A suicide bomber rammed a vehicle packed with explosives into the gate of the Old Police Lines, a police complex in Kohat, a city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northwest Pakistan, on Friday, September 18. The attack struck while worshippers inside the complex’s mosque were performing Friday prayers, the week’s central religious observance in Muslim countries, so the complex was packed with people at the moment of the blast.

The explosion tore into the outer wall of the mosque and brought down part of the surrounding wall, leaving a crater at the point of impact. “A vehicle loaded with explosives rammed the gate of the old police station,” Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police Zulfiqar Hameed told the Daily Pakistan. Moments after the first blast, a second attacker detonated an explosive vest near the Special Branch building, also inside the complex.

Police sources said seven armed militants in total tried to force their way into the complex after the initial explosion. Police and the Counter Terrorism Department killed six of them, including a sniper and suicide bombers, while, according to a police statement, the operation against the remaining attackers was in its final stages under Hameed’s direct supervision.

The death toll varied by source throughout the day. Provincial Justice Minister Aftab Alam, who visited the wounded in a hospital in Kohat, said at least 16 people had been killed and 67 wounded. The Express Tribune put the death toll at 17, while the Central Police Office in Peshawar said the dead included five police officers and 11 civilians, also totaling 16. Tahir Ali Shah, head of Kohat District Hospital, said 15 bodies and more than 50 wounded had been brought in, and that an emergency had been declared at the hospital because of the scale of the injuries.

Rescue effort and the road to Hangu shut down

The road connecting Kohat to the nearby city of Hangu was closed to all traffic immediately after the attack, and additional security was deployed around the police complex. More than 60 rescuers and 20 ambulances from Kohat, Karak and Hangu were sent to the scene. Rescue 1122 spokesman Bilal Ahmed Faizi said more than 30 wounded and seven bodies had been moved to nearby hospitals in the first hours, and that the search for any further casualties under the rubble was still under way.

Who is behind the attack

Responsibility for the attack was claimed by Ittehad ul Mujahideen Pakistan, a group led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur and based in Afghanistan. It is one of the factions linked to the broader Pakistani Taliban movement that, according to The Express Tribune, operate from Afghan territory. Islamabad has repeatedly asked Afghanistan’s Taliban government to stop its territory being used to plan attacks on Pakistani security forces, but the de facto authorities in Kabul have so far taken no concrete action against groups operating from their side of the border, the paper reported.

Pakistani officials react

The attack was condemned by the country’s top officials. President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif offered condolences to the families of the dead. The president said the complete elimination of militant groups, which he said receive support from abroad, was essential to the country’s security, while the prime minister asked the relevant authorities for a report on the attack and ordered that aid to the wounded be sped up.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said: “We stand shoulder to shoulder with the families of the martyrs in this hour of grief.”

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi described the attack as “extremely tragic and condemnable targeting of innocent citizens,” ordered that the more seriously wounded be transferred to other hospitals if needed, and requested a detailed report from police authorities on all circumstances of the attack.

Justice Minister Aftab Alam, during his visit to the wounded, called on residents to donate blood, saying it would speed up treatment for the injured. Kohat, a city about 60 kilometers south of Peshawar, has been the target of attacks on security forces before, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has recently seen more frequent attacks by militant groups whose strongholds, according to Pakistani media, sit on the Afghan side of the border.