KARACHI —A massive explosion at a crowded market in northwestern Pakistan has killed 10 people and wounded dozens more, police and rescue officials said.
The blast at the crowded Naurang Bazar caused panic on the streets as people rushed to help the wounded and emergency vehicles raced to the site. Visuals from the scene showed damaged shopfronts and a mangled vehicle.
The blast on Tuesday was caused by a bomb-laden rickshaw in the town of Sarai Naurang, in Lakki Marwat district, a region close to the border with Afghanistan, police said. Two traffic policemen and a woman are among those killed, according to local police chief .
The emergency response agency Rescue 1122 said about 30 people were wounded and those with serious injuries had been rushed to hospitals in Bannu.
Mohammad Ishaq, the medical superintendent of THQ Hospital, said they had received 37 patients so far and some of them were in critical condition.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which came days after 21 police officers were killed in a car bombing and gun assault on a security post in the nearby Bannu district on Saturday.
Pakistan blamed the Pakistan Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, for the assault. The group is separate from but allied with Afghanistan’s Taliban government and has intensified its campaign against Pakistani security forces in recent years.
The Taliban government said on Tuesday that the allegations were “baseless”.
“The Islamic Emirate once again clarifies its position that Afghan soil will not be used against any country, and no one will be allowed to carry out activities that would harm the security and stability of the region,” Taliban government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement.
“Pakistani officials’ latest remarks, which claim that an attack on a police centre in Bannu was planned in Afghanistan, are considered baseless and rejected,” he said in a post on X.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in violence in recent years, with the TTP and other armed groups growing more emboldened since the Afghan Taliban’s return to power in Kabul.
Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have escalated in recent months, and the two sides have engaged in fighting that has killed hundreds of people since late February.
Source: Saudi Gazette