At least 16 people were killed in north-western Pakistan on Friday when a suicide attacker rammed an explosives-laden car into a police complex as people were praying at a mosque inside.
Five police officers were among the dead after the vehicle smashed into the outer wall and gunmen who accompanied it opened fire in the city of Kohat, provincial police chief Zulfikar Hameed said.
The Interior Ministry said in a post on X that there had been a blast near a police site in the Kohat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Officials said 57 people were injured.
The ministry expressed its grief over the loss of life and said the "cowardly actions" of the attackers could not weaken the "nation's firm resolve". Mr Hameed described the incident as a suicide attack.
All seven attackers were killed in the explosion and the gun battle that followed, police said in a statement. Videos shared by rescuers showed the boundary wall ripped apart by the blast, and people trying to pull the wounded from the debris as ambulances arrived.
The blast occurred close to a mosque where the police personnel, their family members and other civilians were offering Friday prayers, police said.
Local media has reported that an operation is under way to look for survivors, while the death toll may rise.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Tehrik-e-Taliban, the Pakistani branch of the Taliban and the region's main militant group, issued a statement disowning Friday's attack.
In recent months, militancy in Pakistan's border areas has surged, with the military and police the main targets. Islamabad says militants use safe havens in Afghanistan to train and plan attacks in Pakistan. Afghanistan's Taliban government has denied the allegation and said the militancy is a problem for Pakistan.
