Islamabad: More than 20 people were killed and dozens injured in a suspected suicide car bomb blast on Tuesday at Charsaddah in the North West Frontier Province, police said.
The bombing, apparently aimed at causing maximum civilian casualties, was the third blast in as many days in or close to Peshawar, the capital of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), an area bordering the tribal region where the army is pushing into a key Taliban and Al Qaida sanctuary.
The blast was carried out in the town's usually crowded main fruit market known as Farooq Azam Chowk. The 24 killed by the blast included at least one woman and one child, said Mansour Ullah, a senior doctor at the government hospital in Charsadda.
Forty-eight people were wounded, 12 of them critically, said Sattar Khan, a police official in Peshawar.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmoud Quraishi condemned the attack, calling the perpetrators of the attack "enemies of Islam."
No one claimed responsibility for the blast, but authorities have blamed similar attacks in recent weeks on the Taliban.
Intimidation
The insurgents apparently hope the blasts will weaken the resolve of the army, which launched an offensive in mid-October against militants in South Waziristan.
Three days ago a suicide bomber struck a cattle market in the provincial capital, Peshawar, killing a dozen people and injuring many others. On Monday another suicide attack in Peshawar at a police check post claimed three lives.
Yesterday's attack destroying scores of shops on both sides of the road and knocking down electrical wires. Officials suspected the bomb was planted in a car outside the market, said police officer Rokn Zeb Khan.
Rashid Kaka said he was returning from the mosque to his shop in the market when the bomb exploded.
"It was deafening and there were clouds of dust all around. I could not see anything around me. Later I saw many bodies lying scattered," he said.
Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Minister of Information for North West Frontier Province, said the bombing was evidence the government crackdown was putting pressure on the militants.
"They are not able to target freely, and that's why they are targeting innocent people," said Hussain.
With inputs from AP
