A BOMB rigged to a rickshaw exploded in a bazaar in north-western Pakistan today, killing at least nine people and wounding more than two dozen, amid escalating violence in the region bordering Afghanistan.

The attack took place in Lakki Marwat, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, local police chief Azmat Ullah said. He said that two traffic police officers and a woman were among the dead.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). 

The attack came days after 15 police were killed in a suicide bombing and gun assault on a security post in the nearby Bannu district, prompting Islamabad to summon a senior Afghan diplomat to lodge a formal complaint.

Pakistan blamed the Saturday night attack on the TTP.

Islamabad has long accused Afghanistan’s Taliban government of sheltering TTP militants. Kabul has denied the allegation, saying it doesn’t allow militants to use Afghan territory to attack other countries.

Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have persisted, including fighting that has killed hundreds of people since late February. 

In early April, the two sides held peace talks mediated by China, but sporadic cross-border clashes have continued.