AGENCIES

A massive blast at a crowded market in northwestern Pakistan killed 10 people and wounded dozens more yesterday, the emergency services agency said, as the latest attack in the region threatens to reignite fighting with neighbouring Afghanistan.

The bomb blast at the crowded Naurang Bazar in Lakki Marwat 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.

Lakki Marwat Deputy Commissioner Hameedullah Khan issued a statement saying that at least 10 people were martyred. He said that, as per initial reports, terrorists had planted explosives in a rickshaw, reports Dawn online.

The attack follows a car bombing followed by an ambush at a police post in the nearby Bannu district on Saturday that killed 15 police officers.

Pakistan blamed Afghanistan-based militants for the weekend attack and delivered a strong protest to Kabul. The Afghan Taliban administration yesterday rejected allegations that militants based on Afghan soil were behind the weekend attack in Bannu.

The United Nations reported yesterday that at least 372 Afghan civilians were killed in conflict between government forces and Pakistan in the first three months of the year, with more than half the deaths attributed to airstrikes on a drug rehab facility in Kabul.

The two countries engaged in their worst fighting in years in February after Islamabad launched airstrikes on Kabul, saying it was targeting militant strongholds used to orchestrate attacks on Pakistan. The Taliban has denied harbouring militants and said militancy in Pakistan is an internal problem, reports Reuters.