Bomb explodes in Pakistan bazaar, killing nine

A bomb planted in a rickshaw exploded in a bazaar in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least nine people and wounding more than two dozen, in the latest sign of rising violence in the region bordering Afghanistan.

The attack took place in the Lakki Marwat district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, local police chief Azmat Ullah said on Tuesday.

He said two traffic police officers and a woman were among the dead.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP.

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 latest attack came just days after 15 police officers were killed in a suicide bombing and gun attack on a security post in the nearby Bannu district, prompting Islamabad to summon a senior Afghan diplomat to lodge a formal complaint.

Pakistan blamed the TTP for the attack, which took place late on Saturday.

Pakistani officials have long accused Afghanistan’s Taliban government of harboring TTP militants.

Kabul rejected the claim, saying it did not allow militants to use Afghan territory to launch attacks on other countries.

Pakistan has seen a rise in militant violence in recent years, straining relations with Afghanistan.

TTP and other militant groups have become further emboldened since the Afghan Taliban came to power in Kabul in 2021.

Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan continue, including clashes that have killed hundreds of people since late February.

In early April, the two sides held peace talks mediated by China.

However, occasional cross-border clashes continued, albeit at lower intensity than before.