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Men walk past the aftermath of a car-bomb explosion in Peshawar, in Pakistan's restive North West Frontier Province - Source: Reuters -
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A suspected suicide car-bomber killed 49 people in the Pakistani
city of Peshawar in an attack that the government said underscored
the need for an all-out offensive against the Pakistani
Taliban.
There was no claim of responsibility but Interior Minister Rehman
Malik said "all roads are leading to South Waziristan", referring
to the headquarters of the Pakistani Taliban in the
northwest.
"One thing is clear, these hired assassins called Taliban are to be
dealt with more severely," Malik told reporters in Islamabad.
"We think we have no other option except to carry out an operation
in South Waziristan," he added, while declining to say when that
might happen.
The suspected car-bomber set off his explosives as he was passing a
bus, police said.
The blast hurled the bus onto its side on a road in a commercial
neighbourhood of the northwestern city. Several cars were also
destroyed.
"The bus was making a turn when the blast occurred and it threw the
bus into the air," a witness told the Duniya television
channel.
An official at Peshawar's main hospital said 49 people had been
killed including seven children.
The bomb dented trade at Pakistan's main stock market, which has
gained about 66% this year after losing 58.3% in 2008.
"There was some negative impact as the market has come off its
intra-day high but there seems to be foreign support at lower
levels," said Mohammed Sohail, chief executive at Topline
Securities Ltd.
Violence picking up
Islamist militants who have set off numerous bombs in towns and
cities including Peshawar over the past couple of years, most aimed
at the security forces and government and foreign targets.
Early this year, the militants pushed to within 100 km of
Islamabad, raising fears for nuclear-armed Pakistan's
stability.
The United States needs Pakistani help against militants crossing
into Afghanistan to battle US-led forces there.
An exasperated US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said
early this year the government appeared to be "abdicating" to the
militants.
But that changed in late April when the security forces launched a
sustained offensive in the Swat valley, 120 km northwest of
Islamabad, largely clearing Taliban from the region.
The militants suffered another big blow on August 5, when their
overall leader, Baitullah Mehsud, was killed in an attack by a
missile-firing US drone aircraft in South Waziristan.
Mehsud's death and reports of infighting over who would take over
as leader raised hopes that the militants were in disarray.
But in recent weeks violence has been picking up after a relative
lull following Mehsud's killing.
The government ordered the army to go on the offensive in South
Waziristan in June and security forces have been launching air and
artillery strikes, while moving-in troops, blockading the region
and trying to split off factions.
The army has declined to say when it would send in ground
troops.
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