Nine killed in blast in northwest Pakistan market, police say

By Saud Mehsud

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan, May 12 (Reuters) – A massive blast at a crowded market in northwestern Pakistan killed nine people and wounded dozens more on Tuesday, 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 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.

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 theweekend attack and delivered a strong protest to Kabul.The Afghan Taliban government said on Monday it had no comment to offer immediately in response to Pakistan’s allegation.

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.

The emergency response agency Rescue 1122 said nine people were killed and around 30 others wounded in Tuesday’s explosion at the market, which is part of the town square.

Those with serious injuries had been rushed to hospitals in Bannu, it added in the statement.

Mohammad Ishaq, the medical superintendent of THQ Hospital, said they had received 37 patients so far and that some of them were in critical condition.

(Reporting by Saud Mehsud; Additional reporting by Mushtaq Ali in Peshawar; Writing by Hritam Mukherjee and Saad Sayeed; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, YP Rajesh and John Mair)