What happened
A bomb rigged to a rickshaw exploded in a busy bazaar in Lakki Marwat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday, killing at least nine people and wounding more than two dozen, local police said.
Local police officials said the explosion occurred in a market area of the district, thepakistan.pk reported. Two traffic police officers and a woman were among those killed, while many of the injured were passers-by who were in the bazaar at the time.
The force of the blast also damaged several nearby shops, according to the account. Emergency teams moved the wounded to nearby medical facilities.
Target and response
Local police chief Azmat Ullah said the apparent target of the bombing was traffic police personnel, the report said.
No group initially claimed responsibility for the blast. Suspicion initially fell on Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, but the group denied any involvement in an official statement.
The attack came days after another major assault in the nearby Bannu district, where police officers were killed in a suicide bombing and armed attack on a security post.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the Lakki Marwat attack in the strongest terms and expressed condolences to the families of the victims. Authorities said investigations were being sped up to identify those responsible and to strengthen security in sensitive districts.
Why it matters
The bombing extends a run of deadly attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and keeps pressure on the provincial and federal security response in districts bordering Afghanistan. It also follows the 9 May attack on a police post in Bannu, which Islamabad has linked to militants operating from Afghan territory.
What is still uncertain
No group had claimed responsibility and no suspect had been named at the time of reporting. The account of the attack, casualty figures and official responses rests on thepakistan.pk’s report.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a summary of published material, not independent reporting. Source reviewed on 2026-05-12. The image is a contextual photograph and does not depict the 12 May 2026 attack.
- thepakistan.pk — "9 killed as bomb rigged to rickshaw explodes in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa"12 May 2026 · Reports the Lakki Marwat bazaar bombing, the casualty figures, the apparent targeting of traffic police, the TTP denial and the prime minister's condemnation.
