Deadly blast in Pakistan as Clinton arrives
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A bomb has killed up to 80 people and wounded more than 200 in a busy market area in the Pakistani city of Peshawar.
The blast came several hours after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Pakistan pledging a fresh start in relations with an increasingly embattled and sceptical partner in the struggle against Islamic militancy. Clintonwas in Islamabad, three hours drive away, when the blast hit. North West Frontier Province Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain says 200 were wounded in Wednesday’s attack in Peshawar city.
A government official says the death toll has risen to at least 80 people.
Pakistan is on high alert amid fears of retaliatory strikes by Pakistani Taliban militants as the army attacks their strongholds in South Waziristan on the Afghan border.
The bomb went off in the busy Peepal Mandi market street in Peshawar’s old city, sparking a fire that engulfed several buildings.
The offensive came after a series of brazen attacks on the United Nations, army headquarters, police and general public, in which more than 150 people were killed.
The army launched the offensive on October 17 and says it is making steady progress as soldiers push towards the al Qaeda-linked militants’ bases in the region’s rocky mountains and patchy forests.
There have been several bomb attacks since the offensive began.
“Several buildings and a mosque have been badly damaged while a fire has engulfed a building,” witness Aqueel-ur-Rehman told from the scene.
Wednesday’s blast caused serious damage in the neighbourhood of old wood and brick buildings, busy streets and narrow lanes.
CLINTON: WE’RE TURNING THE PAGE
Clinton told reporters the United States was “turning the page” as she began her first visit to Islamabad as the the top US diplomat on Wednesday amid rising anti-American sentiment in Pakistan and an expanding US-led war in neighbouring Afghanistan.
“I can see three bodies lying under the debris,” he said.
Clinton acknowledged that misunderstandings dogged US ties with Pakistan and pledged to refocus the relationship on the “needs of the people” including strengthened economic assistance and development of democratic institutions.
Clinton acknowledged that misunderstandings dogged US ties with Pakistan and pledged to refocus the relationship on the “needs of the people” including strengthened economic assistance and development of democratic institutions.
Clinton’s three-day visit, kept secret out of security concerns, comes amid a surge of anti-US feeling in Pakistan, which is increasingly bloodied in a campaign against Islamic fundamentalists that is being closely followed by the United States and other Western powers already embroiled in the conflict in neighbouring Afghanistan.58 billion) over the next five years.