Five police personnel were among 16 people killed and 54 others were injured in an explosion near a mosque at Kohat Police Lines around Friday prayer, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police officials confirmed to The Express Tribune. According to the latest update from the Kohat police, seven armed terrorists infiltrated the police lines following the explosion at the mosque.
The police said six terrorists, including the suicide bomber, had been killed so far. The clearance operation against the terrorists had entered its final stages, the police said. Initially, a suicide attacker blew himself up near the Special Branch building after the explosion, police added.
K-P Inspector General of Police Zulfiqar Hameed said the operation was continuing and that police and the Counter Terrorism Department were engaged in an operation against Fitna al-Khawarij inside the police lines compound.
“The operation will continue until the complete elimination of Fitna al-Khawarij,” Hameed said. “The morale of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Police is high. We will bring the terrorists to justice,” he added.
Earlier, Hameed told The Express Tribune that an exchange of fire between police and armed terrorists was continuing after the blast. He said police were present at the scene and the area had been placed on high alert.
“Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Police is standing as an iron wall against terrorism. Cowardly attacks cannot weaken our resolve,” he said. “The blood of the martyrs will not go to waste. The terrorists and their facilitators will meet an exemplary fate,” he added.
Meanwhile, Rescue 1122 spokesperson Bilal Ahmad Faizi said more than 30 injured people and seven bodies had been shifted to hospitals through Rescue 1122 ambulances.
Faizi said several of the injured were in critical condition and that the search and rescue operation remained under way at the site.
He said 14 ambulances, rescue vehicles, a recovery vehicle and more than 45 rescue personnel were participating in the operation. Earlier, Rescue 1122 had reported that more than 20 injured people had been taken to nearby hospitals, with several in critical condition.
District Emergency Officer Noor-ul-Amin was personally supervising the rescue operation, Faizi said, adding that relief activities would continue until the operation was completed. He added that further details would be issued as more information was received.
K-P govt condemns attack
K-P Chief Minister Sohail Afridi strongly condemned the attack and ordered authorities to ensure immediate medical treatment for those injured in the blast. The chief minister sought a report on the incident from police authorities and described the attack as a “cowardly act of terrorism” that was “extremely regrettable and unacceptable”.
He directed officials to use all available resources to provide medical assistance to the injured and ensure hospitals had the necessary facilities for their treatment.
Afridi also ordered arrangements to transfer critically injured people to other hospitals if required and called for all aspects of the incident to be examined before a detailed report was submitted.
“Targeting innocent citizens is extremely regrettable and condemnable,” he said. “The cowardly acts of terrorism cannot break the nation’s resolve,” the chief minister added.
K-P’s Governor Faisal Karim Kundi also condemned the explosion, calling for the injured to be provided with immediate and appropriate medical treatment.
“The explosion at Kohat’s old Police Lines was extremely regrettable and condemnable,” Kundi said. He said cowardly acts of terrorism could not shake the nation’s resolve and determination.
Kundi added that the entire nation stood with the security forces in the fight against terrorism. “The sacrifices of the security forces and people in the war against terrorism will not go in vain,” he said.
This is a developing story…
