11 articles · Updated · The Associated Press · May 12
Nine people were killed and more than two dozen wounded when a bomb rigged to a rickshaw exploded in a Lakki Marwat bazaar, with police saying traffic officers were the apparent target.
Two traffic police officers and a woman were among the dead, but most casualties were passersby, and the blast also damaged nearby shops.
No group claimed responsibility; suspicion often falls on Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, though the Pakistani Taliban said it was not behind Tuesday's bombing.
The attack followed Saturday's assault in nearby Bannu that killed 15 police officers, deepening a militant surge that has sharpened Pakistan's accusations that Afghanistan-based fighters are operating across the border.
Afghanistan's Taliban government rejected Pakistan's latest claims as baseless, underscoring how the violence is straining already fragile ties despite recent China-mediated talks.
As Pakistan wages 'open war' in Afghanistan, why are terror attacks still surging at home?
With Pakistan and Afghanistan now in an 'open war,' is a full-scale regional conflict inevitable?