LAKKI MARWAT, PAKISTAN / MENA Newswire / — A bomb blast tore through a crowded market in Sarai Naurang in Pakistan’s northwestern Lakki Marwat district on Tuesday, killing 10 people and wounding about 30 others, according to police and rescue officials. The dead included eight civilians and two police officers, authorities said. The explosion ripped through Naurang Bazaar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, scattering debris across the market and sending traders, shoppers and bystanders fleeing as emergency vehicles rushed to the scene.
Rescue teams moved the wounded from the market to nearby medical facilities, with several of the most seriously injured taken to hospitals in Bannu. Rescue 1122 said around 30 people were hurt in the blast, which struck an area that forms part of the town square and is usually busy with commercial activity. Images from the scene showed damaged shopfronts, shattered glass and a mangled vehicle, underscoring the force of the explosion in one of the district’s busiest public areas.
Police said the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device, and officials said the casualty count rose after some victims were taken to hospital from the market. Local police said traffic police officers were among those killed, while many of the wounded were passersby caught in the explosion. Authorities sealed off the area after the blast, and investigators began collecting evidence from the damaged bazaar as residents gathered around the cordoned site.
Casualties rose as victims reached hospitals
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. The bombing added to a recent stretch of violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province that has seen repeated attacks on security personnel and civilians. The market blast came only days after a deadly assault on a police post in nearby Bannu district, where 15 police officers were killed. Tuesday’s explosion widened concerns over security in districts close to the Afghan border, where public spaces and police personnel have repeatedly come under attack.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the bombing and expressed grief over the deaths in Lakki Marwat. In an official statement, he directed authorities to conduct a swift inquiry and bring those responsible to justice. The district administration and police remained at the site through the day as rescue workers cleared the area and officers documented the damage. Authorities did not announce any arrests, and officials limited their public comments to confirmed casualties, injuries and the emergency response underway.
Officials order inquiry after market blast
Officials said the explosive device had been attached to a rickshaw in the crowded bazaar, magnifying the impact on people moving through the market at the time of the blast. Shops near the point of explosion were damaged, and debris was strewn across the road as law enforcement personnel examined the scene. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police said two officers were among the dead, while hospital transfers continued for some of the injured as medical teams worked to stabilize those in critical condition.
The Lakki Marwat bombing began with lower casualty reports before the toll was revised upward as police and rescue officials updated figures from hospitals and the scene. By late Tuesday, authorities said 10 people had been killed and about 30 wounded. The attack left families waiting outside medical facilities and residents surveying wreckage in the bazaar, while investigators continued to piece together the sequence of events in one of the deadliest attacks to hit the district in recent weeks.