Islamabad, Sept 20. (dpa/GNA) – A suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into the entrance of a mosque at a police headquarters in north-western Pakistan on Friday, killing 15 people and wounding more than 50 others, officials said.
The bombing in Kohat, in the restive north-western province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa near the Afghan border, occurred as worshippers including police officers, gathered at the mosque for Friday prayers, local police official Ajmal Khan said.
At least 15 bodies and more than 50 injured people were brought to the hospital in the town, doctor Tahir Shah said. The death toll could rise as several injured people were in a critical condition, Shah added.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Both a regional affiliate of the Islamic State terrorist group and the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), are active in the region and regularly target security forces.
Violence has surged in Pakistan’s remote regions near the Afghan border in recent years.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers of allowing militants who orchestrate attacks in Pakistan to operate from Afghan territory. Officials in Kabul deny the accusation.
GNA