At least nine people were killed and more than two dozen others wounded when a bomb rigged to a rickshaw exploded in a bustling bazaar in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday, according to police. The attack marks the latest escalation in militant violence in the region bordering Afghanistan.
Attack in Lakki Marwat
The explosion occurred in Lakki Marwat, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said local police chief Azmat Ullah. He confirmed that among the deceased were two traffic police officers and a woman. The bomb was attached to a rickshaw and detonated in a crowded market area, causing widespread casualties and panic.
No Immediate Claim of Responsibility
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing. However, suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The TTP is a separate entity from Afghanistan's Taliban government but shares ideological ties and has intensified its campaign against Pakistani security forces in recent years. The attack comes just days after a suicide bombing and gun assault on a security post in the nearby Bannu district killed 15 police officers, prompting Islamabad to summon a senior Afghan diplomat to lodge a formal complaint. Pakistan blamed that attack on the TTP.
Strained Relations with Afghanistan
Pakistani authorities have long accused Afghanistan's Taliban government of providing sanctuary to TTP militants. Kabul has repeatedly denied these allegations, asserting that it does not allow its soil to be used for attacks against other countries. The surge in militant violence in Pakistan has strained relations with Afghanistan, with tensions persisting since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in 2021. The TTP and other militant groups have grown more emboldened in this period.
Cross-border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan have resulted in hundreds of deaths since late February. In early April, the two sides held peace talks mediated by China, but sporadic clashes have continued, albeit at a lower intensity. The latest bombing underscores the fragile security situation in the region and the ongoing challenge of militancy along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
