Several killed in blasts at Pakistan police station
Police say there were two explosions inside a ‘counterterrorism’ police station in Kabal, northwest Pakistan.
Two explosions rocked a “counterterrorism” facility in northwest Pakistan on Monday, killing at least eight people, police said, and several others were injured.
Provincial police chief Akhtar Hayat said it was not clear yet what caused the explosions at the facility in Swat Valley’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The complex also houses the Kabal district police station and headquarters of a reserve police force but the main damage was done at the counterterrorism department building.
Hayat said there was an old ammunition store in the office, and police were probing whether that caused the explosions or if it was a militant attack. No one has so far claimed responsibility.
Hayat said most of those killed were police counterterrorism officers.
“The reports indicate that the roof of the counterterrorism department facility … caved in. Eight dead have been accounted for. The rescue effort is continuing. They are trying to remove the rubble,” said Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder on Monday.
Bilal Faizi, spokesman for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s provincial rescue service said the search for more wounded was still in its initial stages.
The regional hospital administration said it received several wounded people, some of them in critical condition.
More to follow.