ISLAMABAD, September 18. /TASS/. At least 15 people died and 50 others were injured in an explosion near a mosque during Friday prayer in Pakistan’s northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Geo TV channel reported.

According to the TV channel, a car packed with explosives and driven by a suicide bomber crashed into the gates of the Police Lines complex. One of the mosque’s walls collapsed. Emergency services are operating on site. The injured, including police officers, have been taken to hospital, with several of them in critical condition.

A shootout between police officers and terrorists followed the explosion near the mosque. Later, another explosion was heard near the police headquarters.