Death toll from suicide bombing at police compound in Pakistan rises to 24

Tahir Ali Shah, top official at Kohat District Hospital, said three more police officers had succumbed to their injuries, raising the death toll to 24.

The casualties occurred when an explosives-laden vehicle rammed into the gate of the Old Police Lines compound in Kohat district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Friday.

Police said six "terrorists," including a suicide bomber, were also killed.

The explosion created a crater outside a mosque inside the police compound.

According to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's police chief, another suicide bombing occurred at a Special Branch police building during an exchange of gunfire.

Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi "strongly" condemned the attack in a post on US social media platform X.

Afghanistan "deems attacks on holy places an unjustifiable and condemnable act, and expresses its profound sympathy with the families of the victims of this tragic incident," he said.

Separately, Pakistani security forces killed seven militants in two operations in the southwestern province of Balochistan, state-run Radio Pakistan reported.