At least 31 killed as militants storm police headquarters in Pakistan's Kohat
At least 31 people were killed and more than 100 injured when attackers stormed a police headquarters in the northern Pakistani town of Kohat, a senior police official said on Saturday, adding that an exchange of fire was still under way at the complex.
The assault on the Old Police Lines complex in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province began on Friday afternoon. The compound functions as a district-level police headquarters and houses key offices of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), the 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 told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to brief the media.
He said several attackers were still holed up in the Special Branch section of the complex, and that firing had continued since late on Friday night. "Their exact number remains unclear," he added.
A statement from the Kohat district health officer late on Friday said more than 100 people had been injured, the vast majority of them police personnel, and that several were in a critical condition. Casualty figures in the early hours of such attacks are frequently revised as rescue work continues.
Images from the scene showed military personnel standing beside piles of bricks and rubble and blown-out walls, with soldiers carrying assault rifles guarding the complex. Several ambulances were lined along a street near the police compound, while medical teams treated the wounded at local hospitals.
Kohat is a town of about 2,20,000 people in a province that has seen a sharp rise in attacks on security installations in recent years, with police posts and military facilities among the targets.
The local militant group Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen Pakistan, described as a faction linked to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Pakistan has attributed the increase in attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the southern border province of Balochistan to militancy emanating from Afghanistan. The Taliban government in Kabul denies that Afghan territory is being used to plan or launch such attacks.
The accusations have produced a bitter rift and armed exchanges between the neighbouring countries. Pakistan has carried out airstrikes that it says target militants on Afghan soil. The Taliban government and the United Nations said dozens of civilians were killed in the latest such strikes on eastern Afghanistan in June.
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 that the "best medical assistance be provided to the injured" and called for a report into the incident.
President Asif Ali Zardari expressed "regret" over the casualties and sent his "best wishes for the speedy recovery of those injured in the blast". He said that the "complete elimination of Fitna-al-Khawarij and terrorists operating with foreign backing is essential for national security". "Fitna-al-Khawarij" is a term used by Pakistani officials to refer to the TTP.
No independent verification of the official casualty figures was immediately available. Authorities have not announced the total number of attackers involved, and the operation at the complex was continuing at the time of reporting.
