By NNN-APP/PTI
Kohat (Pakistan) : At least 11 people were killed and five others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up in Kohat here on Monday at 12:30 pm, police said.
The bomber blew himself up close to the Army Public School and College. The deceased were security personnel and were coming out of the training centre when the suicide bomber blew himself up, police said.
The injured were admitted to CMH Kohat where their condition is stated to be serious. Police and security personnel have cordoned off the area and have started investigation.
Earlier reports said a suicide attacker blew himself up near a group of recruits in Kohat cantonment in the North West Frontier Province Monday.
The blast occurred as the recruits were returning to the cantonment after participating in a sports event.
The suicide bomber got close to the personnel and detonated his explosives on a road that is also used by the local people, military spokesman Maj Gen Waheed Arshad said.
An army battalion headquarters and an army public school are also located in the area, some 50 kms from the provincial capital of Peshawar. Arshad said it appeared the recruits were the main target of the bomber.
“The recruits were coming back from playing a match when the suicide bomber blew himself up close to them on the road,” he said.
Asked how such an attack was carried out in a high-security area, Arshad said: “This is a public road on which there was other traffic. It’s very difficult to identify a suicide attacker unless you have prior information. It’s a difficult thing to prevent.”
No group claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest in a series of suicide bombings targeting Pakistan’s armed forces.