A vehicle bomb exploded Friday at a mosque near police offices in northwestern Pakistan as gunmen tried to storm the compound in an attack that killed at least 21 people and wounded 80 others, police and rescue officials said. Among those killed and wounded were police officers attending prayers at the mosque.
The coordinated assault was the latest in a surge of militant violence near the border with Afghanistan where Pakistani Taliban militants have increasingly targeted police and other security forces as the government intensifies operations against them.
The bombing occurred in Kohat, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. An attacker apparently rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the mosque, said Zulfiqar Hameed, the provincial police chief.
At least seven armed gunmen also attempted to enter the police compound and exchanged fire with officers. Six of the gunmen were killed, according to police, who said one suicide bomber attacked the nearby office of an intelligence agency.
The police compound housed counter-terrorism police, who had carried out operations against militants across the province in recent years.
Most of those killed were police officers, hospital officials said. Bilal Faizi, a senior rescue official, said most of the dead and wounded had been attending prayers at the mosque.
