At Least 16 Killed in Suicide Attack on Police Facility in Northwest Pakistan

At least 16 people, including five police officers, were killed in northwest Pakistan on Friday when a suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden vehicle into a police facility while people were offering prayers at a mosque inside the compound, police said.

The attack took place in Kohat city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The vehicle crashed into the outer wall of the police facility before accompanying gunmen opened fire, provincial police chief Zulfikar Hameed said, confirming that it was a suicide attack.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the assault.

The explosion occurred near a mosque where police personnel, their families and other civilians had gathered for Friday prayers, according to a police statement.

A gunfight between police and the attackers was continuing, the statement said. One attacker wearing an explosives-laden vest had been killed.

Pakistan's interior ministry condemned what it called the attackers' "cowardly actions", saying the violence would not undermine the nation's resolve.

Militant violence has increased sharply in Pakistan's border regions in recent months, with security forces, particularly the military and police, frequently targeted.

Islamabad has accused militants of using safe havens in Afghanistan to train and plan attacks inside Pakistan. Afghanistan's Taliban authorities have rejected the allegation, maintaining that militancy in Pakistan is an internal issue.