Death toll rises to 31 in Pakistan police HQ bomb attack

A bomb attack and gun assault at a police headquarters in northern Pakistan has left at least 31 people dead and over 100 injured, local officials reported. The militants stormed the Old Police Lines complex in Kohat, a town of around 220,000 residents in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, on Friday afternoon. They rammed a car packed with explosives into the facility as officers and their families were praying in a mosque. At least 16 policemen lost their lives in the attack, officials said.

The militant group Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen Pakistan, which is linked to the Pakistani Taliban, has claimed responsibility for the incident. The police compound functions as a district-level headquarters, housing crucial offices of the Counter Terrorism Department, Special Branch, and other police units. Several militants are believed to still be holed up in the Special Branch section of the Kohat Police Complex, with an ongoing exchange of fire taking place since late last night. The exact number of militants remains undetermined.

Pakistan has attributed the surge in attacks in the area to militants operating from Afghanistan, a stance denied by the Taliban government. This has exacerbated tensions between the neighboring countries, leading Pakistan to conduct airstrikes targeting militants in Afghanistan. The Taliban government and the UN have reported that dozens of civilians were killed in Pakistani strikes in eastern Afghanistan in June.