Bomb Explosion at Pakistan Market Kills at Least Nine

A bomb-laden rickshaw exploded at the crowded Naurang Bazar market in the town of Sarai Naurang, Lakki Marwat district, northwestern Pakistan on May 12 2026, killing at least nine people and wounding around 30 others. The blast tore through the busy market square shortly before the evening rush, causing immediate panic on the streets.

People rushed to help the wounded as emergency vehicles raced to the site.

Visuals from the scene showed damaged shopfronts and a mangled vehicle. Rescue 1122 said the explosion killed at least nine people and wounded around 30. THQ Hospital received 37 patients from the explosion, some in critical condition, according to Mohammad Ishaq, the medical superintendent.

Two traffic police officers and one woman were among those killed, local police chief Azmat Ullah said. Those with serious injuries from the explosion were rushed to hospitals in Bannu. The attack occurred with no immediate claim of responsibility.

It came days after a bombing and gun assault on a security post in Bannu district killed 21 police officers. A separate car bombing followed by an ambush at a police post in Bannu district on Saturday killed 15 police officers. Pakistan blamed the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, known as TTP, for the Bannu district assault and delivered a strong protest to Kabul, blaming Afghanistan-based militants.

The TTP is separate from but allied with Afghanistan’s Taliban government and has intensified its campaign against Pakistani security forces in recent years. The Afghan Taliban administration rejected Pakistan's allegation that the Bannu attack was planned in Afghanistan.

“Pakistani officials’ latest remarks, which claim that an attack on a police centre in Bannu was planned in Afghanistan, are considered baseless and rejected,” Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said in a post on X. Pakistani authorities have long accused Afghanistan’s Taliban government of sheltering TTP fighters.