Kohat attackers targeted police compound to free CTD detainees, investigators say

The militants who carried out a suicide bombing before storming Pakistan’s Kohat Police Lines were seeking to free several associates held at a Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) facility inside the compound, according to investigators.

The finding emerged from a CTD-led investigation into the Sept. 18 attack, which killed at least 21 people and injured 103, according to Pakistani officials. The casualties included police officers and civilians. A subsequent clearance operation ended with all eight attackers killed, authorities said.

The attack began when a suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden vehicle into the Police Lines during Friday prayers, after which armed militants entered the compound and engaged police and CTD personnel in a prolonged gun battle.

Investigators have since traced an alleged network involved in the assault and determined that two militant organizations worked together to plan and execute it, police officials said.

The attackers had stayed in Kohat for several days before the assault, according to investigators.

Police later raided the house where they were believed to have stayed, making several arrests and recovering material that officials said was linked to the attack.

Investigators have also obtained data relating to the vehicle used by the suicide bomber, who was killed in the assault. They believe the attackers were seeking to free four to six associates held at the CTD facility in terrorism-related cases, officials said.

The investigation has also examined the scale of the explosives used in the attack. A Bomb Disposal Unit report said about 869 kilograms of explosive material was used, while unexploded devices were recovered from the compound.

The report said the blast left a crater measuring about 6.6 feet by 11 feet and 4.6 feet deep.

Security forces took about 21 hours to clear the compound after the attackers established positions inside the Police Lines, according to Pakistani authorities. Eight militants were ultimately killed in the operation.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Gul Bahadur faction has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying its Al-Badar Istishhadi Battalion carried out the operation jointly under the banner of Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen Pakistan. The claim could not be independently verified.

Kohat, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near Pakistan’s former tribal areas, has faced recurring militant violence targeting security personnel. The latest attack comes amid a broader increase in militant activity in the northwest, with Pakistani authorities repeatedly accusing militants based in Afghanistan of carrying out attacks inside Pakistan.

Islamabad has blamed the rise in violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the southwestern province of Balochistan on groups operating from Afghanistan.