However, the military or the security agencies have not confirmed the incidents or the casualty figure.

A powerful explosion, followed by several blasts and heavy gunfire, rocked Lakki Marwat city on Thursday night, official sources told Dawn News.

Sources told the newspaper that the blast took place near the Government Postgraduate College, which houses security forces and a military camp.

Residents said that after the first explosion, several other blasts were also heard, followed by heavy gunfire, which partially damaged houses in the settled area.

People came out of their homes after the first blast shook the area, but subsequent explosions and gunfire drove them indoors.

Citing preliminary reports, sources said militants had attacked a military compound late in the night. “It was a bomb and gun attack,” they said, adding that troops retaliated and a fierce gunbattle continued for about an hour.

The management of the district headquarters hospital called doctors and paramedics to duty to cope with any possible emergency.

A hospital staffer said that doctors and paramedics were put on alert, but no victim had been brought to the facility thus far.

Muhammad Ashfaq Khan, Lakki Marwat’s district police officer, told Dawn that the exchange of fire stopped and no casualty had been reported until going to print.

“All installations of the army and police are safe,” he said, adding that security had been beefed up across the district after the attack.