Pakistan: Suicide bombing death toll rises to at least 31

The number of dead in a suicide bombing in Kohat, Pakistan, near the Afghan border, has risen to at least 31 people, police said on Saturday, even as fighting rages. 

The attack on Friday afternoon saw militants stormed the district police headquarters complex at Kohat in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.

An explosives-laden car caused a large explosion and damaged a mosque at a police compound. 

"At least 31 people, including 16 police personnel, have been killed and more than 100 injured so far in the militant attack and suicide bombing," a police official told AFP.

"Several militants are still holed up in the Special Branch section of the Kohat Police Complex. An exchange of fire with them has been ongoing since late last night. Their exact number remains unclear."

What do we know about the attack? 

Police said in a statement that the suicide attack occurred near a mosque as officers, their relatives and other civilians were worshipping inside. 

The statement added that security forces engaged other militants in a subsequent gun battle after at least two other attackers tried to to enter the facility. 

Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen Pakistan, a local militant group linked to the Pakistani Taliban, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Government blames TTP amid attack in Afghan border area

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack and expressed sorrow over the casualties. He directed authorities to accelerate rescue operations. The Interior Ministry said that the "cowardly actions" of the attackers would not weaken "the nation's resolve." 

President Asif Ali Zardari appeared to assign the blame to the TTP Tehreek-e-Taliban group. 

"The complete elimination of Fitna-al-Khawarij and terrorists operating with foreign backing it essential for national security," Zardari said, using another term for the TTP. 

Pakistan blames Afghanistan for surge in violence

The attack comes at a time when relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan's Taliban rulers are already fraught, with Islamabad alleging that the TTP uses safe havens across the Afghan border to plot and train for attacks in Pakistan.

Pakistan blames the increase of attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the border province of Balochistan further south in large part on the Taliban administration in neighboring Afghanistan. 

How 5 years of Taliban rule have changed Afghanistan

The Taliban rejects these allegations. 

The accusations have sparked a bitter rift and even incidents of armed conflict between the neighboring countries.

Pakistan has carried out airstrikes it says targets militants taking refuge on Afghan soil, including this June.

Authorities in Kabul have in turn decried these attacks and reported civilian casualties. 

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