At least 31 people have been killed and more than 100 injured after militants detonated a vehicle-borne bomb near a mosque inside a police compound in Kohat, a city of approximately 220,000 people in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, bordering Afghanistan. The attack, which began on Friday afternoon during weekly prayers, was followed by a gun assault on the complex that continued into the following day.

According to police officials, a vehicle packed with explosives was driven into the boundary wall near the mosque at the Old Police Lines complex — a district-level police headquarters housing the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), Special Branch, and several other units. At least seven attackers then breached the compound and advanced toward key police buildings. Six attackers, including a suicide bomber, were killed by security forces, but at least one militant remained holed up inside the Special Branch section overnight, with an exchange of fire still ongoing on Saturday. Among the dead were 15 to 16 police officers, including SP Traffic Akbar Shinwari, as well as a local doctor. Television footage showed extensive structural damage to the mosque, with civilians helping to dig through rubble.

Responsibility for the attack was claimed by Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen Pakistan, a militant faction linked to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Pakistani Taliban. The TTP has waged an insurgency against the Pakistani state since 2007, seeking to overthrow the government and impose its own strict interpretation of Islamic law. Pakistani officials referred to the group using the state designation "Fitna-al-Khawarij." Pakistan has long accused Afghanistan's Taliban government of harbouring TTP militants, an allegation Kabul denies. The dispute has fuelled armed clashes between the two countries, including Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan territory that the United Nations said killed dozens of civilians as recently as June.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack and ordered a full report, while President Asif Ali Zardari called for the "complete elimination" of foreign-backed terrorists as essential for national security. KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had sacrificed more than 80,000 lives in the fight against terrorism and described the province as Pakistan's frontline in that struggle. Diplomatic condemnations came from the United Kingdom, China, and Russia, with the UK's High Commissioner calling the attack "appalling" and noting that "nobody should face violence in a place of worship."

The attack is part of a broader wave of violence this year. Pakistani authorities say more than 800 citizens — including civilians, soldiers, and police officers — have been killed in militant attacks in 2026, while over 2,000 militants have also been killed in the same period. Kohat itself suffered a deadly bombing in 2010, when 20 people were killed in a blast at a nearby police colony. Friday's attack underscores the persistent threat faced by security forces in KP, and raises renewed questions about the regional dynamics fuelling cross-border militancy.