ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, (Reuters) – A car bomb ripped through a crowded market killing 90 people in Pakistan’s city of Peshawar yesterday, just hours after Washington’s top diplomat arrived pledging a fresh start in sometimes strained relations.
Yesterday’s bomb, the latest urban attack since the army launched a major assault on rural Taliban strongholds two weeks ago, was the deadliest since 2007 when around 140 died at a procession to welcome home former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated just weeks later.
The bomb went off in the busy Peepal Mandi market street in a city that for years served as the headquarters of the Pakistan- and U.S.- backed mujahideen war against the Soviet Union’s occupation of Afghanistan.
Although nobody claimed responsibility, suspicion immediately fell on Pakistani Taliban militants who are the target of the army offensive.
The rugged landscape between Afghanistan and Pakistan has become a haven for Taliban militants fighting on both sides of the border as well as many hundreds of al Qaeda operatives and other foreign Islamist insurgents.
Hours after the blast, visiting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a news conference that Washington fully supported Pakistan’s battle.
“I want you to know that this fight is not Pakistan’s alone,” she said.
“So this is our struggle as well and we commend the Pakistani military for their courageous fight and we commit to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Pakistani people in your fight for peace and security.
Sahib Gul, a doctor at Peshawar’s main hospital, said the dead from yesterday’s bomb were mostly women and children. “Several buildings and a mosque have been badly damaged while a fire has engulfed buildings,” witness Aqueel-ur-Rehman told Reuters from the market, which mostly deals in groceries and houshold goods.
Defiant Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told a news conference with Clinton that the militants would be crushed. “We are facing this on a daily basis but the resolve and determination will not be shaken,” he said.
Addressing those responsible, he added: “We will not buckle. We will fight you. We will fight you because we want stability and peace in Pakistan.”
In the latest fighting in the Waziristan offensive, the military said it had killed 25 militants and captured several training centres and arms caches — including some hidden in caves.
The army says 264 militants and 33 soldiers have been killed since the offensive started. Independent verification is difficult as foreign reporters are barred from the area and it is dangerous even for Pakistani media.
