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Terrorism & Violence· By ARMSMA

A car bomb at Friday prayers and nearly a day of fighting: what happened inside Kohat's police lines?

Around 1:20 pm on Friday, 18 September 2026, police officers and civilians were at prayer in the mosque of the Police Lines on Hangu Road in Kohat when a blast struck, The Express Tribune reported. A vehicle "hit the gate and then exploded", Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police chief Zulfiqar Hameed said, followed by gunfire (The Daily Pioneer).

The explosion left a crater outside the mosque, damaged its exterior and brought down a wall, the Pioneer reported. Then armed men went into the compound, heading for the buildings of the Counter Terrorism Department and the Special Branch.

Kohat lies about 60 km south-west of Peshawar. The attack matters because of what it targeted: not a checkpoint on a road, but the place where the police who are supposed to protect the district pray, sleep and work.

How did the attack unfold?

After the vehicle bomb hit the boundary wall near the mosque, seven armed attackers got inside, police said, according to The Express Tribune, whose first report had spoken of five to seven. A suicide attacker detonated himself near the Special Branch building. The Central Police Office in Peshawar said the militants fought the police and the Counter Terrorism Department (Daily Pioneer).

The fighting did not end that afternoon. The clearance operation lasted nearly 22 hours and ended after an overnight engagement, Pakistan Observer reported. An Additional Inspector General of the Counter Terrorism Department, not named, stayed on the frontline and was injured in the hand by a grenade.

How many people were killed?

The toll changed as the day went on. In its first report on 18 September, The Week reported at least 16 dead, including five security personnel, and about 50 wounded.

Later, Dr Tahir Shah, medical superintendent of the Kohat hospital, gave 21 dead, 15 of them police officers, and 103 injured: 73 police and 30 civilians (Daily Pioneer). The Express Tribune reported the same figures; 13 of the injured were taken to Liaqat Memorial Hospital and 90 to the district headquarters hospital, where an emergency was declared.

Pakistan Observer wrote on 19 September that the toll had risen to 23. ARY News, reporting on 23 September, still cited police sources for 21 dead, including 15 police personnel (ARY News).

Among the civilians killed was a paediatric specialist at Liaqat Memorial Hospital, Kohat. Outlets spell his name differently: Dr Israel Khan Aurakzai (Express Tribune), Dr Israel Khan Orakzai (Pioneer), Dr Israr Khan Orakzai (Pakistan Observer).

How many attackers were there?

The accounts here also diverge. Police first said all seven attackers were killed; a later police update said six, including the suicide bomber (Express Tribune). When the operation ended, the Central Police Office confirmed that all eight militants had been killed, according to Pakistan Observer.

Who claimed it?

On the day of the attack, The Week reported that no group had claimed responsibility. Both the Express Tribune and the Pioneer later reported a claim by Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen Pakistan, which the Tribune said is led by the Afghanistan-based Hafiz Gul Bahadur. The Pioneer described it as an alliance of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group, Harakat Inqilab-e-Islami Pakistan and Lashkar-e-Islam, formed in April 2025.

"Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police stands as an iron wall against terrorism, and such cowardly attacks cannot weaken our resolve," Hameed said. President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said eliminating "foreign-sponsored terrorists" was "essential for national security" (Pioneer).

What we do not know

  • The final death toll. Published figures range from 16 (early reports) through 21 (hospital and police) to 23 (Pakistan Observer).
  • How many attackers took part: five to seven, seven, or eight, depending on the report and the hour.
  • Whether the claim is genuine. We have seen the claim reported, but no independent verification of it, and no statement on who planned the attack.
  • The names of most victims. Only one victim is named in the reports we read.

What to watch

The UN Security Council condemned the attack, called for those responsible to be brought to justice and urged states to cooperate with Pakistan (ARY News). It was not the first attack on Kohat's police this year: in February five people, including a deputy superintendent, were killed in an attack on a police vehicle on Shakardara Road, ARY reported. Both Sharif and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi asked for police reports (Pioneer). What those reports say about how a vehicle bomb reached the wall of a police compound will be the first test of whether the lesson is learned.

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