The death toll from Friday’s attack on the Old Police Lines in Kohat has risen to 21, and a group based in Afghanistan has claimed responsibility (Express Tribune).
The revised figures
| | | |—|—| | Killed | 21 | | — police | 15 | | — civilians | 6 | | Injured | 103 — 73 police, 30 civilians | | Admitted | 34 | | Underwent laparotomy | 5 | | Attackers | 7, all killed |
Among the dead is Dr Israel Khan Aurakzai, the district’s chief specialist in paediatrics.
—
A correction to our own report
This newspaper published yesterday that 16 had been killed — 5 police and 11 civilians — with about 57 injured and six of seven attackers killed.
Both the total and the breakdown were wrong, and the breakdown was wrong in a way that inverted the meaning: it is now 15 police and 6 civilians, not the reverse.
We wrote yesterday that the figures were provisional, explained why they conflicted across outlets, and said we would correct them if they changed. They have, and this is the correction. The earlier report has been annotated.
—
What happened, in the fuller account
A vehicle-borne improvised explosive device was detonated at about 1:20pm at the mosque boundary wall of the Police Lines on Hangu Road, during Friday prayers. Part of the mosque was destroyed.
Seven armed men then entered the compound. A suicide attacker detonated near the Special Branch building, and a gunfight followed. All seven attackers were killed.
Who has claimed it
Ittihadul Mujahideen Pakistan, led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur, who is based in Afghanistan.
Why the claim matters more than the label
Because of where the claimant sits. Pakistan told the UN Security Council on 16 September that it would “respond in self-defence, as and when needed and in accordance with international law”, citing more than 4,700 deaths in three years from groups based in Afghanistan and accusing the Taliban of harbouring them.
Three days later, an attack that killed 15 policemen has been claimed by a group whose leader operates from Afghan territory. That is the case Pakistan made at the Security Council, arriving as evidence — and it raises the question of what the self-defence formula was being prepared for.
What officials said
KP Inspector General Zulfiqar Hameed: “Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Police is standing as an iron wall against terrorism. Cowardly attacks cannot weaken our resolve.”
The month in this province
August saw 54 attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa against 36 in July. More than 250 attempted drone attacks on police were recorded between January and July, and Peshawar’s 118 police facilities have seven counter-drone systems between them.
What is not established
No independent verification of the claim of responsibility is available. The attackers’ identities, the explosive quantity, the route the vehicle took and how it reached the gate have not been published. No inquiry findings have been announced.
[Image: Reuters via The Express Tribune]
Update, 24 September 2026: The final toll from the 18 September attack on the Old Police Lines in Kohat was 31 dead and 103 wounded, after a clearance operation that ran about 22 hours and in which eight attackers were killed. This report was published while the count stood lower, and an earlier update revised it to 21. The figure of 31 is the settled one. We are leaving the original text unchanged above and recording the correction here.
