Lede: At least 21 people, including 16 police officers and five civilians, were killed and more than 70 others wounded in a suicide bombing targeting a police compound in northwestern Pakistan during Friday prayers, local media reported, citing officials.
The casualties occurred when an explosives-laden vehicle rammed into the Old Police Lines gate in the Kohat district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a senior police official said, according to local broadcaster Geo News.
Tahir Ali Shah, the top official at Kohat District Hospital, earlier confirmed that 15 bodies were brought to the healthcare facility, besides wounded people.
Police said six "terrorists," including a suicide bomber, were also killed in the explosion. In a statement, police said a clearance operation was underway.
The explosion created a crater outside the mosque in the police compound.
According to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police inspector general, another suicide blast took place at a special branch police building during an exchange of gunfire.
President Asif Ali Zardari expressed regret over the citizens' casualties in the Kohat blast.
"The complete elimination of Fitna al-Khawarij" - a term Islamabad uses to designate the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan group - "and terrorists" is essential for national security, he said on X.
Separately, seven militants were killed by Pakistani security forces in two operations in the southwestern Balochistan province, state-run Radio Pakistan reported.
The city is in the restive north-western province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa near the Afghan border, and was damaged by the force of the blast.
Television footage from the Pakistani broadcaster Geo showed people fleeing the scene of the attack in panic and lifeless bodies on the ground.
Videos on social media verified by dpa showed a heavily damaged building facade and several people clearing away rubble.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Both a regional affiliate of the Daesh 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.
In early August, 14 people were killed in a suicide attack outside a police station in the Swat Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Hundreds of people were outside the station demonstrating against the escalating violence in the region. That attack followed others on police officers in months prior.