Bomb attack at Pakistan mosque kills at least 16 people, injures 56

PESHAWAR —A powerful bomb exploded at a mosque near a building housing police offices in Pakistan’s restive northwest on Friday, killing at least 16 people and wounding 57, police and rescue officials said. The bombing occurred in Kohat, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, when an attacker apparently rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the mosque as people gathered for Friday prayers, said Zulfiqar Hameed, the provincial police chief.There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. However, both a regional affiliate of the ISIL (ISIS) armed group and the Pakistan Taliban (TTP) are active in the region and regularly target security forces.Hameed confirmed that the bombing had been a suicide attack. After the explosion, gunmen attempted to enter the police compound and exchanged fire with officers.At least 15 bodies and more than 50 injured were initially taken to hospital, said Dr Tahir Shah, according to the dpa news agency. The death toll could rise as several injured people were in critical condition, he added.Hospital officials have confirmed that five police officers and 10 civilians were among the dead, Bilal Faizi, a senior rescue official, said, according to the AP news agency. Most of those wounded were worshippers.The mosque was badly damaged and the police station’s outer wall collapsed. Residents said the blast had been heard some distance away.Most suspicion over the attack is likely to fall on the TTP. It came a day after a roadside bomb struck a security forces convoy in the northwestern Hangu district and killed six soldiers.Government troops conducted raids in various areas on Thursday and killed 10 fighters believed to be members of the TTP, the military and police said.The group is separate from, but allied with, the Taliban, which returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021.Violence has surged in Pakistan’s remote regions near the Afghan border since, and Islamabad accuses the Taliban of allowing the groups that orchestrate attacks to operate from Afghan territory.Officials in Kabul deny the accusation. The tension has seen the two nations launch cross-border attacks on an intermittent basis.Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the bomb attack and directed authorities to accelerate rescue operations.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, targeting the military and police.