PESHAWAR – At least 22 people including children and women were killed and 85 others got injured in a powerful car bombing at a police compound on Hangu Road in Kohat on Tuesday evening.
Official sources said that majority of those targeted in the attack were either policemen or their family members. Most of the injured persons were children and women. Reportedly the car bomb blast ripped through at around 07:00 p.m. when the victims were breaking their fast.
Eyewitnesses said that it was a huge explosion and over two dozens houses were demolished completely while windowpanes of nearby buildings were smashed. In addition, over 30 shops located in Tirrah Bazaar were also damaged completely.
Officials said that explosive material was planted in a car parked near the gate of Police Line Colony but it was not clear whether it was detonated through a remote control or by a suicide bomber.
Police and law enforcement agencies arrived at the scene and cordoned off the area. Rescue workers accompanied by local people were busy pulling people out of the rubbles. However, rescue workers faced difficulties as electricity was suspended after the blast. Bomb disposal squad said that around 400 kilograms of explosive material was used in the blast.
Commissioner Kohat Khalid Omarzai while talking to media persons said that it was a huge explosion. Emergency has been declared in the hospitals of the district while rescue operation was underway, he informed.
No militant organisation claimed responsibility for the attack till filing of this report.
Agencies add: At least 21 people were killed and more than 50 wounded in a bomb attack targeting police headquarters in Kohat on Tuesday. A government official said a large explosion has ripped through the police compound. Khalid Omarzai said the blast rocked the complex housing officersÂ’ homes, a training facility and a commercial area.
The death toll could rise as several people were trapped under the debris of collapsed houses.
“Eighteen people have so far been pulled out of debris,” Fayyaz Turu, police chief of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, told a private TV channel.
According to a TV channel, a suicide bomber, riding a car, wreaked havoc at police headquarters in Kohat on Tuesday.
“There were women and children among the injured,” senior police official Dilawar Bangash told AFP. “It was a big explosion. I am on site and can see the smoke. Several people have been wounded,” he said.
Police said a nearby police residential complex had also been severely damaged and houses had collapsed, trapping several people in the rubble. Police said it was a bomb blast but they were investigating whether a suicide bomber had targeted the area or someone had planted a bomb. “It was a bomb blast but I can’t say (more) about the nature of the bomb, as our focus is to rescue people,” Khalid Khan, the top administrative official in Kohat, said.
Doctor Atta-ur-Rehman, a doctor in KohatÂ’s main hospital, said 18 injured had been brought to his hospital.
According to a private TV channel, the blast was of high intensity and more casualties were feared. Nearby houses have been badly affected by the explosion.