Reporting snapshot · 18 September 2026. The attack began during Friday congregational prayers and a clearance operation was still under way when this article was published. Casualty figures were being updated and no group had yet claimed responsibility.
What happened
At least 16 people, including 11 civilians and five police officers, were killed and more than 50 wounded when a suicide and vehicle-borne attack struck the Old Police Lines in Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, during Friday congregational prayers, police said on 18 September 2026.
The attack began when an explosives-laden vehicle rammed the gate of the old Police Lines compound and detonated, according to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police Zulfiqar Hamid. A suicide bomber then blew himself up near the Special Branch building inside the compound during an exchange of fire with police, the IG said. The explosion occurred during Friday prayer and left a crater outside a mosque in the compound, severely damaging its outer section and collapsing a wall, according to the police.
How the attack unfolded
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police initially reported an explosion near the Old Police Lines on the Kohat-Hangu road before the full picture of a coordinated assault emerged. The explosives-laden vehicle struck the compound gate and detonated, and firing followed, the IG told Geo News. During the gunfire, a second blast hit the Special Branch building. The Express Tribune, citing the latest update from Kohat police, reported that seven armed terrorists infiltrated the police lines after the mosque explosion, and that six terrorists, including the suicide bomber, had been killed by the time a clearance operation entered its final stages.
Rescue 1122 said more than 40 personnel and 14 ambulances took part in the relief operation, which was supervised by the district emergency officer. The injured were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital in Kohat, where hospital administration declared an emergency. District Headquarters Hospital’s medical superintendent, Tahir Ali Shah, told Geo News that 15 bodies had been brought to the hospital along with more than 50 injured people. Authorities closed the Kohat-Hangu Road to all traffic and deployed an additional contingent of police around the Police Lines while the search and clearance operation continued.
The official response
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the blast and directed authorities to ensure the injured received the best possible medical treatment, according to Radio Pakistan. The president said the complete elimination of Fitna al-Khawarij and terrorists operating with foreign backing was essential for national security. The prime minister sought a report from the relevant authorities on the nature and causes of the blast and ordered that relief operations be expedited.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi expressed condolences to the families of those killed and said the “cowardly acts of the Khawarij” could not weaken the nation’s resolve. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi took notice of the incident, sought a report from police, and ordered that all available resources be used for the immediate treatment of the injured, describing the attack as a “cowardly act of terrorism” that was “extremely regrettable and unacceptable”. Provincial Governor Faisal Karim Kundi and Information Minister Shafi Jan also condemned the explosion, and Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti said the entire nation was united against terrorism.
Context: rising attacks on police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
The Kohat attack is the latest in a series of militant strikes on police and security forces in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa this year. In February 2026, gunmen ambushed a police van on Shakardara Road in Kohat, killing a deputy superintendent and other officers. In August, a suicide bomber killed 14 people, including police, at the gate of Kabal police station in Swat.
The military’s media wing said on 18 September that security forces had killed 10 militants belonging to the India-sponsored Fitna al-Khawarij in multiple engagements in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa between 15 and 17 September, while six soldiers were killed when an improvised explosive device struck a security forces convoy. Kohat itself has been hit before: Dawn noted that in 2010, 20 people, mostly relatives of policemen, were killed and more than 90 injured in a remote-controlled bomb blast inside a police colony just behind the Kohat Police Lines.
No group had claimed responsibility for the 18 September attack at the time of writing. Suspicion among officials and analysts pointed to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which the state refers to as Fitna al-Khawarij, and which has repeatedly targeted police and security personnel in the province.
What is still uncertain
The casualty toll was still being updated when this article was published, with early figures lower than the eventual count confirmed by police. The exact sequence of the attack, the number of attackers involved, and whether any escaped remained under investigation. Authorities had not formally established the precise nature and cause of the blast or named any group as responsible, and it was unclear how long the clearance operation would continue or whether the death toll would rise as rescue teams searched the damaged mosque compound.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a synthesis of published material, not eyewitness reporting. Sources were reviewed on 18 September 2026.
- Dawn — 5 cops among 16 martyred in blast at Kohat Police Lines18 September 2026 · Confirmed casualty figures of 11 civilians and five police officers, the IG's account of the vehicle and Special Branch blasts, and the 2010 Kohat Police Lines context.
- The News International — Kohat suicide blast leaves 16 dead including five cops: police18 September 2026 · The IG's description of the vehicle ramming the gate and the firing, the hospital toll of 15 bodies and more than 50 injured, road closures, and the condemnation statements.
- The Express Tribune — President Zardari, PM Shehbaz strongly condemn Kohat Police Lines blast18 September 2026 · The seven infiltrators, the six terrorists killed including the suicide bomber, the final stages of the clearance operation, and the responses of Zardari, Shehbaz, Naqvi, Afridi and Kundi.
- Associated Press — Bombing at mosque near police offices in Pakistan kills at least 7 and wounds more than 3018 September 2026 · Independent wire confirmation of the blast at Kohat during Friday prayers, the worshippers wounded, and the emergency at the local hospital.
