50 die in Pakistan market blast

A suicide bomber struck near a crowded market in Peshawar today, killing at least 50 people and wounding more than 100.

The devastating blast in the north west of Pakistan pushed the country closer to a major offensive against the Taliban in their main stronghold along the Afghan border.

The attack, which left the charred skeleton of a bus overturned in the middle of the road, was the deadliest to hit the country in six months. It was also a grim reminder of the ability of insurgents to strike in major cities, despite operations against them by the Pakistani security services and the death of their leader in a US missile strike.

Passers-by rushed to cover the bodies of victims whose clothes were burned off in the morning attack.

One man staggered from the scene, his face covered with blood. "I saw a blood-soaked leg landing close to me," said Noor Alam, who suffered wounds to his legs and face and was at a hospital overrun with casualties. "I understood for the first time in my life what doomsday would look like."

Peshawar police chief Liaqat Ali Khan said the attacker was in a car packed with a "huge" amount of explosives and artillery rounds. Zafar Iqbal, a doctor at the main Peshawar hospital, said 49 people were killed besides the bomber. Seven children were among the dead.

"Death has to come one day, but we will keep chasing these terrorists, and this attack cannot deter our resolve," provincial information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said at the scene.

The army is preparing to launch a major offensive in South Waziristan, a region along the Afghan border considered the springboard for suicide attacks.

Interior minister Rehman Malik said the attack meant the country now had no other option but to strike. "We will have to proceed. All roads are leading to South Waziristan," he said.