Dilawar Bangash, a local police chief in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, told AFP the attackers intended to use the truck bomb to target religious processions in the city of Kohat marking the Islamic holy month of Muharram.
Two suspects were arrested, he said, adding that two suicide vests were also seized in the operation.
'Thanks to God, they failed to carry out the attack. It could have caused massive destruction,' Khalid Umarzai, local administration chief told private TV channel Express 24/7.
Pakistan has stepped up security for Muharram, which begun on Wednesday and sees tensions rise between Pakistan's majority Sunni Muslim and minority Shiite Muslim communities, along with attacks on Shiite religious parades.
A teenage suicide bomber killed at least 17 people at a busy Pakistani market on Wednesday when he struck in Kohat, a city of at least half a million and one of the main garrisons for the Pakistan military. -- AFP
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