Lakki Marwat: The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) said its personnel and security forces killed Zahid Gul, the alleged mastermind of the Kohat Police Lines attack, during a joint operation in Lakki Marwat on October 16.

In a statement, CTD said the operation took place in the Walai Sagai area. It identified Gul as a commander affiliated with the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group who was wanted in several terrorism cases.

The September 18 assault began when an explosives laden vehicle detonated near a mosque inside Kohat Police Lines.

Terrorists then stormed the compound and attacked police facilities, killing 17 policemen and six civilians. Eight attackers were killed during the subsequent overnight clearance operation.

CTD said Gul had guided the vehicle used in the attack to the police compound.

The department also accused him of involvement in a bank robbery in Kohat’s Balitang area, where PKR six million was stolen. According to the statement, the money was distributed among terrorist factions operating in Bannu’s Bakakhel and Janikhel areas.

CTD said Gul had facilitated the arrival of several suicide bombers in Kohat. Two months earlier, it said, he had brought a bomber for an attempted attack on the new Kohat Police Lines, but the plot was thwarted.

He had also planned attacks on a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) facility and a police training school in Kohat, the department said, adding that other members of the network were already in custody.

The operation comes amid heightened violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Seven policemen were injured in an October 7 attack on a Kohat checkpost, which police said they repelled.

Separately, the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) reported an 83 percent increase in violence linked fatalities nationwide during the third quarter of 2026. KP and Balochistan accounted for 98 percent of the deaths recorded during that period.