A massive explosion at a police mosque triggered panic in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan on Friday, leaving at least 16 people dead and many others injured, said officials. The blast took place near the old Police Lines in Kohat district of the province.
Several videos and photographs have gone viral on social media showing the intensity of the explosion that took place while Friday prayers were being held. The visuals and the images showed damaged walls and buildings, as people rushed to help the injured.
Rescue teams, including those of local administration and the police, have arrived at the spot and a rescue operation remains underway. Rescue 1122 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa spokesperson Bilal Ahmad Faizi said rescue teams are assessing the situation and the wounded have been shifted to nearby hospitals.
As of now, no group has claimed the responsibility, but some unconfirmed reports have claimed that it was a suicide bombing that was carried out by Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen Pakistan (IMP), a militant group that was formed in April last year which opposes the Pakistan security forces and rivals the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Pakistan’s one of most disturbed regions
A study by Pakistan’s Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (ICSS) has said the IMP was responsible for multiple terror attacks, including suicide bombings, in the North Waziristan region since its emergence. The study also said that loyalists of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), another group that rivals the TTP, could join the IMP.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remains one of the disturbed regions in Pakistan, where multiple terror groups, led by the TTP, have emerged, clashing with Pakistani forces, seeking independence from Islamabad’s rule. The Pakistani forces and the terror groups have conducted multiple back-and-forth attacks, leaving hundreds dead over the years.
Earlier in the day, Pakistani forces claimed it neutralised 10 militants who belonged to the TTP in two separate security operations in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. These intelligence-based operations took place between Tuesday and Thursday.
Six TTP militants were neutralised after security forces targeted a militant hideout in North Waziristan. And in another operation in the Hangu district, four more militants were killed, Pakistan’s military’s media wing said on Friday.
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