At least 90 killed in Pakistan bomb blast

Wed Oct 28 2009 16:57:01

At least 90 people have been killed in a bomb blast in the Pakistani city of Peshawar.

Around 200 others, mostly women and children, were wounded when the explosion happened in a crowded market, sparking a fire that engulfed several buildings.

The Peshawar bomb went off in the busy Peepal Mandi market street in the old city, sparking a fire that engulfed several buildings.

Azam Kham, a senior government official in the city said: "It was a car bomb. The car was parked outside a market frequented mostly by women."

Pakistan is on high alert amid fears of retaliatory strikes by Pakistani Taliban militants as the army attacks their strongholds in South Waziristan on the Afghan border.

The blast came several hours after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Pakistan, pledging a fresh start in relations with an increasingly embattled and sceptical country in its struggle against Islamic militancy.

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