At least two people were killed while one suffered injuries in a blast near the Board Bazaar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Peshawar early Sunday morning, officials said.

Rescue 1122 Spokesperson Bilal Faizi confirmed the death toll and injuries to Dawn.com.

He said the bodies and wounded were moved to the Khyber Teaching Hospital and the blast site had been cordoned off.

Speaking to the media, Peshawar Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) Kashif Aftab Abbasi said teams of the Counter Terrorism Department and other law enforcement agencies had arrived at the site and were collecting evidence.

“We have found an almost mutilated body and a damaged motorcycle here,” he said.

“The blast occurred during the transportation of four to five kilogrammes of explosives,” the SSP told Geo News in an interview later. He elaborated that the explosives were being transported on a motorcycle.

“Two people involved in the transportation were killed while one was injured,” Abbasi said, adding that the identities of the suspects were being determined.

Meanwhile, KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur took notice of the incident and sought a report from the provincial police chief, according to a statement released by the CM Office.

In a press release issued by the Prime Minister’s Office, PM Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the blast and prayed for the high ranks of the departed souls.

The premier directed the provision of the best medical treatment to the injured and reiterated his resolve to eliminate terrorism in the country.

National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq also condemned the blast and expressed grief over the loss of innocent lives.

Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities in the past year, especially in KP and Balochistan after the banned militant Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022.

A day earlier, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said 10 militants were killed in two separate operations by security forces in the North Waziristan district. It added that Pakistan expected the Afghan government to fulfil its obligations and deny the use of Afghan soil by terrorists.

According to an annual security report issued by the Centre for Research and Security Studies, Pakistan witnessed 1,524 violence-related fatalities and 1,463 injuries from 789 terror attacks and counter-terror operations in 2023 — marking a record six-year high.

KP and Balochistan were the primary centres of violence, accounting for over 90 per cent of all fatalities and 84pc of attacks, including incidents of terrorism and security forces operations.