Pakistani forces end 20-hour standoff with militants in the northwest

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani security forces on Saturday ended a standoff with militants holed up inside a police compound in northwestern Pakistan, officials said. The confrontation began Friday after a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a mosque, and gunmen stormed the facility, killing 21 people and wounding 103 others. The coordinated attack occurred at a compound in Kohat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan.

Many of the casualties were police officers and people attending prayers at a mosque. Several militants took up positions inside the complex, and a shootout with security officers ensued, police official Mohammad Sadiq said. The complex houses the police’s Special Branch intelligence agency, offices of the Counter Terrorism Department, and houses of counterterrorism officers who have carried out operations against militants across the province in recent years.

Sadiq said that the operation ended after 20 hours. Security forces were searching the compound and nearby areas, and the bodies of eight attackers were recovered, according to local police. Bursts of gunfire could be heard in the compound as additional security personnel arrived, residents said, before the operation ended.

Sadiq said that two attackers detonated explosives inside the compound Saturday morning and that police had killed six assailants so far, not including the bombers. It was unclear whether the new explosions caused additional casualties or how many militants remained inside. Pakistan’s Information Ministry on Saturday appeared to leave open the possibility of new strikes inside Afghanistan, and blamed the attack on militants with alleged roots in Afghanistan and accused the Afghan Taliban government of sheltering and supporting groups that launch attacks inside Pakistan.

“The attack, perpetrated by the vilest of Khawarij with roots in Afghanistan, reminds us that terrorism has no religion and no justification. Those who perpetrate, facilitate or shelter such acts are the worst among humankind,” the Information Ministry said in a post on X. Pakistan uses the phrase Khawarij for Pakistani Taliban and other militants.

The ministry said that “Pakistan has both the will and the capability to eliminate terrorist threats wherever they are” and added that Islamabad would take all necessary measures under international law to protect …