One dead in blast at Hangu market

Thirteen others injured in the explosion.

HANGU: One person was killed and 13 others were injured in a blast at the main market area near Jani Chowk, Hangu on Wednesday, Express News reported.

Rescue team and police reached the spot and cordoned off the area, while injured were shifted to the hospital for treatment.

A day earlier, a bomb exploded during an election campaign of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), killing at least 11 people and injuring 35 others, in the area of Doaba Bazar in Hangu.

Authorities said it was a suicide attack but presented different accounts over whether the bomber had been on foot or riding a motorcycle. Security was tightened around the blast site, and a curfew was imposed in the area.

Violence increased in the northwest as Pakistan prepares to hold a general election and provincial elections on May 11, which will mark the country’s first democratic transition of power.