By IANS,
Peshawar : Fourteen people were killed and about 40 injured Friday when a car stuffed with explosives blew up in a bustling market in Pakistan’s Peshawar city.
The explosion occurred around noon at the Karachi Bazaar, close to the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) assembly. Some witnesses said it was a suicide attack.
Television footage showed a wrecked vehicle on a road in a commercial neighbourhood. The powerful blast damaged several vehicles parked nearby and caused panic.
Provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told reporters that the explosives were planted in a car.
Police officer Gohar Khan said 14 people had been killed, Dawn reported.
Geo TV quoted official sources as saying that as many as 40 injured were taken to Lady Reading hospital.
The blast took place less than a fortnight after the city, located about 150 km from Islamabad, was rocked by an explosion that killed at least a dozen people.
Pakistan has witnessed a spate of bombings after security forces stepped up their offensive against Pakistani Taliban fighters.