An explosives-laden vehicle rammed the gate of a security installation in Kohat before detonating near a mosque during Friday prayers. A senior police official told AFP that the number of fatalities from the assault on the headquarters in the northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province rose to 31 people by Saturday. The total includes 16 police personnel who were killed in the initial blast and a subsequent gun attack by armed militants.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the coordinated bombing, which left more than 80 people wounded. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered an immediate medical response for the injured and a probe into the causes of the event, which drew official condemnations from the governments of Turkey and Iran.