An attack on a police headquarters in Kohat, northern Pakistan, caused at least 31 deaths, including 16 police officers, today indicated a police source to France-Presse.
© Reuters
19/09/2026
by
Lusa
“ Plink minus 31 people, including 16 police officers, died and more than 100 were injured so far in this attack (...) and suicide attack ", declared the same unidentified source.
An explosion took place on Friday afternoon inside the historic Kohat police complex, a city with about 220,000 inhabitants located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, with gunfire exchanges between attackers and police on site continuing to this day.
The complex serves as police district headquarters and houses the main offices of the Department of Combating Terrorism (CTD), the Special Brigade and several other police units.
No group immediately claimed the authorship of the attack, but the region has been the scene of an intense campaign of violence attributed to Islamist group Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
According to a police source who spoke under anonymity, after the explosion several attackers remained entrenched in the Special Brigade section of the Kohat Police Complex.
“The exact number remains uncertain,” said the source, adding that security forces maintain gunfire exchanges with suspects since Friday night.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari expressed “deep regret” for the victims and wished for a rapid recovery of the wounded.
“The complete elimination of Fitna-al-Khawarij and terrorists operating with foreign support is essential for national security,” he said, using an alternative designation for TTP.
Pakistan attributed the increased attacks on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan border province to the growth of militant activity from Afghanistan, an accusation rejected by the Afghan Taliban authorities.
The differences between the two countries have exacerbated diplomatic tensions and armed clashes at the border, and Pakistan has carried out several bombings which, according to Islamabad, targeted armed groups in Afghan territory.
The Taliban Government in Kabul and the United Nations stated that dozens of civilians died in the latest Pakistani air raids in eastern Afghanistan in June this year.