Seven killed in blast in northwest Pakistan market, police say

Seven people, including two police officers and five civilians, were killed and dozens ⁠wounded in a blast ⁠at a market in north-western Pakistan on Tuesday, a senior police officer said, the second deadly attack in the region in ⁠four days.

The bomb blast - which took place in Tehsil Sarai Nawrang Bazar near Bannu district on the border with Afghanistan - threatens to reignite tensions between the neighbours whose militaries clashed fiercely this year.

Ambulances and fire vehicles have been dispatched to the scene of the blast, the agency involved in rescue activities said in a statement.

Those ⁠with ⁠serious injuries had been rushed to hospitals in Bannu, Deputy Superintendent of Police Nawrang Saeed Khan said.

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

Visuals from the scene of ⁠the blast showed damaged shopfronts and a mangled vehicle.

A car bombing followed by an ambush at a police post in the same region killed 15 police personnel on Saturday. Pakistan blamed Afghanistan-based militants for the attack and delivered a strong protest to ⁠Kabul.

The ‌Afghan ‌Taliban government said on Monday it ⁠had no comment to offer ‌immediately.

Pakistan has blamed Kabul for harbouring militants who it says use Afghan soil ⁠to plot attacks in Pakistan. The ⁠Taliban has denied the allegations and said militancy ⁠in Pakistan is an internal problem.