Suicide Bomber Strikes Mosque at Police Compound in Northwest Pakistan, Killing at Least Seven
A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at the gate of a police compound in Kohat, a district in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, during Friday prayers, killing at least seven people and wounding more than 30, according to police and rescue officials. A hospital official later said the toll could be significantly higher, with 15 bodies brought in so far.
The blast struck the Police Lines compound on the Kohat-Hangu Road at around midday, tearing a crater outside a mosque used by officers and their families and causing part of the structure’s outer wall to collapse, according to rescue officials and police. Police said gunfire followed the explosion, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police Zulfiqar Hameed told Geo News that a second suicide blast occurred at a nearby Special Branch building amid the exchange of fire. The Associated Press, citing police and a senior rescue official, put the confirmed toll at seven dead and more than 30 wounded as of Friday afternoon. Tahir Ali Shah, medical superintendent of Kohat’s District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital, told Geo News that 15 bodies and more than 50 injured people had been brought to the hospital. The discrepancy reflects the early, fast-moving stage of the incident, and authorities had not issued a consolidated official toll by the time of publication.
Most of the wounded were worshippers who had gathered for the weekly Friday prayers, a rescue official told the AP. Police said personnel from the compound were also among the casualties.
Attack sequence and police account
According to preliminary information cited by the Central Police Office, an explosives-laden vehicle rammed the gate of the old Police Lines before detonating. IGP Hameed said the initial explosion was followed by gunfire and a second suicide bombing at the Special Branch building nearby, though authorities said the full sequence of events was still being determined. The Central Police Office said IGP Hameed had sought a detailed report from the regional police officer in Kohat, and that an exchange of fire with attackers was continuing in the aftermath of the blast.
No group had claimed responsibility for the attack as of Friday afternoon. Several outlets said suspicion was likely to fall on Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a Pakistani militant faction that has claimed a series of attacks on police and security installations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in recent years, though authorities cautioned that responsibility had not been established.
Emergency response
Rescue teams and additional security personnel were deployed to the site, and authorities closed the Kohat-Hangu Road to traffic. DHQ Hospital declared an emergency to manage the influx of casualties. Rescue officials said search operations were continuing at the site of the blast.
IGP Hameed said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police “stood like an iron wall” against terrorism and that the attack would not undermine the force’s morale. “The blood of the martyrs will not go to waste,” he said, adding that those responsible, along with their facilitators, would face consequences.
Background
Kohat, a garrison town near the Afghan border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has been the site of repeated militant attacks on security forces over the past two decades, including bombings targeting police compounds, convoys and checkpoints. The province has seen a marked rise in violence in recent years, driven largely by TTP activity that Pakistani officials say is staged from havens across the border in Afghanistan — a claim the Afghan government has denied. Provincial data cited by local media show dozens of explosions, including militant attacks, recorded across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in recent months.
Friday’s bombing follows other recent attacks on security and religious sites in Pakistan, including a February 2026 suicide bombing at a mosque in Islamabad that killed 31 people, which the Islamic State’s regional affiliate claimed. A separate bombing in February 2026 targeted a security checkpoint in Bajaur district, which Pakistani authorities attributed to the TTP.
What follows
The death toll from Friday’s bombing had not been officially confirmed at the time of publication, and rescue operations were continuing. Authorities said the circumstances of the second explosion at the Special Branch building, and whether the attack involved one bomber or more, remained under investigation. No group had claimed responsibility as of Friday afternoon.
Sources
Casualty figures, the sequence of the blast and the police account are drawn primarily from Pakistani outlets The News International and Geo News, corroborated where possible by the Associated Press; contested casualty figures are attributed above to their respective sources given the fast-moving nature of the reporting.
Wire services and international press
- The Associated Press, via KRMG, “Bombing at mosque near police offices in Pakistan kills at least 7 and wounds more than 30.” https://krmg.com/2026/09/18/bombing-at-mosque-near-police-offices-in-pakistan-kills-at-least-7-and-wounds-more-than-30/
Local press (proceedings and official statements)
- The News International, “15 dead, more than 50 injured in blast near Kohat Police Lines mosque.” https://www.thenews.pk/story/1438056-multiple-people-injured-in-blast-near-kohat-police-lines-police
- Aaj English, “Explosion at Kohat Police Lines leaves several injured.” https://english.aaj.tv/news/330472899/explosion-at-kohat-police-lines-leaves-several-injured
- Khyber News, “Kohat Blast Near Police Lines Injures Several, Damages Mosque.” https://khybernews.tv/kohat-blast-near-police-lines-injures-several-damages-mosque/
- Free Press Kashmir, “Explosion near mosque in Pakistan’s Kohat injures at least 20.” https://freepresskashmir.news/2026/09/18/explosion-near-mosque-in-pakistans-kohat-injures-at-least-20/
Background and prior proceedings
- Wikipedia, “2026 Islamabad mosque bombing.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Islamabad_mosque_bombing
- Wikipedia, “2026 Bajaur attack.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Bajaur_attack
Editor’s note on sourcing This is a developing story reported within roughly an hour of the incident. Casualty figures differ sharply between the AP’s police/rescue-sourced count (7 dead, 30+ wounded) and a hospital official’s count relayed by Geo News/The News International (15 dead, 50+ injured); both are attributed rather than merged into a single figure, since no consolidated official toll was available at filing. Claims that suspicion would likely fall on the TTP are attributed to reporting convention (based on the group’s history of similar attacks in the region) rather than any statement of responsibility, since no group had claimed the attack. Details on the reported second blast at the Special Branch building and the exchange of gunfire rest on a single police source (IGP Hameed, via Geo News) and have not yet been independently corroborated by a second outlet; they are included with attribution because they come directly from the senior police official leading the response, but should be treated as preliminary.
