By Staff Reporter
LAKKI MARWAT: The death toll from a powerful explosion in a crowded market square in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province rose to nine on Tuesday, including two traffic police officers, as authorities said the blast was caused by more than one maund of explosives planted in a vehicle.
Thirty-three others were wounded in the midmorning blast in Serai Naurang tehsil of Lakki Marwat district, police said. Of those, 23 remained under treatment while seven with minor injuries had been discharged from area hospitals. Lakki Marwat District Police Officer Nazir Khan said investigators believe the device was hidden in a rickshaw parked near the Naurang Bazaar, close to the local police station and a railway crossing along the busy Bannu-Dera Ismail Khan road. It remained unclear late on Tuesday whether the explosion was triggered by a suicide bomber or a remote-controlled detonator, he said, adding that terrorists appeared to be deliberately targeting civilians in the area.
No group had claimed responsibility for the blast by late Tuesday.
The blast shattered shop windows and mangled several three-wheelers, according to videos circulating on social media and accounts from local officials. A large police contingent led by the Naurang Circle deputy superintendent of police quickly cordoned off the site and began collecting evidence. The two slain traffic officers were identified as Adil Jan and Rahatullah. Their bodies, along with those of seven civilians, were taken to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital in Sarai Naurang, where an emergency was declared. Hospital officials said the injured included women and children; five of the critically wounded were referred to hospitals in Bannu, with others sent onward to Peshawar.
Lakki Marwat Deputy Commissioner Hameedullah Khan visited the hospital and directed administrators to provide the best available care. He confirmed the updated toll of nine dead, citing an incident report from the facility.
The attack came three days after a suicide bombing at the Fateh Khel police post in nearby Bannu killed at least 15 officers, part of a sharp rise in militant violence across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan since the Afghan Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021. Islamabad has repeatedly pressed Kabul to crack down on terrorist groups using Afghan territory to launch cross-border attacks, but the Taliban regime has refused to act against the outfits responsible.
On Monday, Pakistan summoned the Afghan chargé d’affaires in Islamabad and delivered a strong demarche over the Bannu attack, which Pakistani investigators said was masterminded by militants based in Afghanistan. Pakistan launched Operation Ghazab lil-Haq in February, months after the two sides had agreed to a ceasefire in October 2025 following border clashes.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi ordered a detailed report from the province’s inspector general of police and described the latest incident as “deeply tragic.” He vowed that the provincial government would extend “full facilitation” to the families of the dead and ensure top-tier medical treatment for the injured. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed grief over the deaths, saying in a statement that terrorists “will not be allowed to obstruct the peace and development of the country.” He said all government departments and law enforcement agencies were working with “unwavering determination” to eradicate terrorism and directed a swift inquiry to identify and punish those responsible.
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