Attack on market that killed 24 and wounded 64 is latest in series in
Peshawar area in retaliation for army offensive in region

    * Associated Press in Peshawar
    * guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 10 November 2009 13.16 GMT

A suicide car bomber attacked a crowded market in north-west Pakistan
today, killing 24 people and illustrating militants' growing willingness
to target civilians in their war against the government.

Taliban insurgents apparently hope the attacks will weaken the army's
resolve to wage an offensive against the group's stronghold along the
Afghan border. But the indiscriminate killing could backfire by turning
the public further against Islamist extremists, as happened in Iraq.

The bombing was the fourth in about a month to target a market in or
around Peshawar, the main city in the north-west. The attacks have
produced some of thehighest death tolls in the past few years, killing a
total of more than 200 people.

The van that exploded outside the market in the town of Charsadda was
packed with some 40kg of explosives, said Liaqat Ali Khan, the senior
police chief for the surrounding North West Frontier province.

Three women and three children were among the 24 people killed in the
blast, Khan said. Another 64 people were wounded. The explosion also
destroyed several shops and caused panic among both vendors and shoppers.

"It was deafening and there were clouds of dust all around. I could not
see anything around me," said Rashid Kaka, who was returning to his shop
from the local mosque when the bomb exploded.

"Later, I saw many bodies lying scattered."

Three of the recent market attacks in the north-west, including one that
killed at least 112 people in Peshawar, have occurred since mid-October,
when the army launched an offensive in the tribal region of South
Waziristan.

Prior to the army operation, most militant attacks in Pakistan had
targeted security forces or government officials.

No one has claimed responsibility for today's attack or the others
targeting Pakistani civilians, but the government and independent
security analysts say there is no doubt the Taliban are to blame.

The militants have also attacked western targets as well army and police
officers since the offensive began.

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