At least nine people have been killed and around 30 others injured after a bomb explosion ripped through a busy market in Sarai Naurang, located in Pakistan’s Lakki Marwat district near the Afghan border.
According to local police, the blast was caused by an explosives-laden rickshaw. Among the victims were two traffic police officers and a woman. Emergency responders from Rescue 1122 said several critically injured victims were transferred to hospitals in nearby Bannu for treatment.
Medical officials confirmed dozens of casualties had been received, with some patients reported to be in critical condition.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. However, the bombing comes only days after a deadly assault on a security checkpoint in Bannu that killed 21 police officers. Pakistani authorities blamed the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for that attack.
The Afghan Taliban government rejected Pakistan’s allegations that attacks are being planned from Afghan territory, calling the claims “baseless.”
Violence has surged in Pakistan’s northwest since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in Kabul, with border tensions and armed clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan continuing despite recent China-mediated peace talks.
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