According to Ataullah Khan, a senior police officer, the first explosion was followed by a more powerful one.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Pakistani Taliban have been involved in similar incidents since they ended a cease-fire with the government last year.

Earlier on the same day, a counterterrorism operation in Lakki Marwat district resulted in the death of three militants and one police officer, but it is unclear whether the two incidents are connected.

Rescue workers have retrieved the bodies of the dead and injured, and the death toll may increase as part of the police building collapsed.

Although the police complex also houses a police station and the headquarters of a reserve police force, the most severe damage occurred in the counterterrorism department building. (ILKHA)