Suicide attack at Pakistan mosque kills at least 16

A suicide attacker rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a mosque at a police headquarters in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing at least 16 people and injuring more than 56 as worshippers gathered for prayers, officials said.

The attack took place in Kohat, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the Afghan border. Five police officers were among the dead, according to senior officials cited in reports from the scene. Hospital officials confirmed that five police officers and 10 civilians were among those killed, Bilal Faizi, a senior rescue official, said, according to the AP news agency.

Provincial police chief Zulfikar Hameed described the bombing as a suicide attack, Reuters reported. After the explosion, gunmen tried to enter the police compound and exchanged fire with officers, according to Al Jazeera. A senior police official in Peshawar told the BBC that a gun battle was still ongoing between attackers and security forces at the mosque, and that one assailant had reportedly been killed.

The blast badly damaged the mosque and caused the outer wall of the police station to collapse. Residents said the explosion could be heard from some distance away. Rescue operations were under way, and officials warned the toll could rise because several of the wounded were in critical condition. Dr Tahir Shah said at least 15 bodies and more than 50 injured people were initially taken to hospital, according to the dpa news agency. Most of those wounded were worshippers.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Al Jazeera reported that both a regional affiliate of ISIL and the Pakistan Taliban, known as the TTP, are active in the area and regularly target security forces. The outlet said most suspicion was likely to fall on the TTP, though no group had claimed the attack.

The bombing came a day after a roadside bomb struck a security forces convoy in the northwestern Hangu district, killing six soldiers, Al Jazeera reported. Government troops also carried out raids in various areas on Thursday and killed 10 fighters believed to be TTP members, according to the military and police cited by the outlet.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the mosque attack and directed authorities to speed up rescue operations. President Asif Ali Zardari expressed “his best wishes for the swift recovery of those injured in the explosion.” The Ministry of Interior said the “cowardly actions” of the attackers could not weaken the “nation’s firm resolve”.

Militancy in Pakistan’s border areas has risen sharply in recent months, with attacks frequently targeting the military and police. Islamabad says militants use safe haven in Afghanistan to train and plan attacks inside Pakistan. Afghanistan’s Taliban government denies the accusation and says militancy is Pakistan’s domestic problem. Al Jazeera reported that tensions between the two countries have led to intermittent cross-border attacks.