Suicide attack kills 16 near mosque in northwest Pakistan police compound

A suicide attack occurred at a police compound in northwest Pakistan, killing at least 16 people and wounding 57 others. The attack happened on Friday at a mosque near a building housing police offices in Kohat, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan. According to The Korea Times, an attacker rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the mosque as officers and their families were praying.

The blast damaged the mosque and the outer wall of the police offices, with photos from the scene showing significant destruction. Witnesses and residents reported smoke rising over the site after the blast. Hospital officials confirmed that five police officers and 11 civilians were among the dead, with most of those wounded being worshippers, according to The Korea Times.

At least seven armed gunmen attempted to enter the police compound and exchanged fire with officers, with six of the gunmen killed, The Korea Times reported. A search-and-rescue operation was underway, with over 45 rescue personnel deployed to the site. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the area has been gripped by a violent campaign by the Islamist militant Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group, according to Free Malaysia Today.

Brief written by urgent.news from Al-Monitor, The Korea Times, Ajel English, CBC News, Free Malaysia Today — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.