Bomb kills 35 in deadliest attack in months in Pakistan

A remote-controlled bomb wounds more than 60 others in a market in Jamrud, one of the towns of the troubled Khyber tribal region.

Pakistani security officials inspect the wreckage of a vehicle which exploded in Jamrud, killing 35.
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PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN // A remote-controlled bomb killed 35 people and wounded more than 60 others yesterday in the deadliest attack in months in north-western Pakistan.

The explosion took place in a market in Jamrud, one of the towns of the troubled Khyber tribal region, which also used to serve as the main supply route for Nato forces operating in Afghanistan.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing.

"The total number of deaths in the blast is 35 while 69 people were wounded, and of them the condition of 11 is critical," said Shakeel Khan Umarza, the administration official.

Another top official in Khyber, Mutahir Zeb, said the target of the attack was not immediately clear.

"According to initial information, it was a remote-controlled device planted in a passenger pickup van," he said.

The burnt out wreckage of at least 15 cars littered the scene next to the shattered glass of at least nine destroyed shopfronts.

Pakistan's remote and lawless north-western region is a stronghold for Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives and other Islamist militants opposed to the government.

Insurgents based in the tribal border lands have carried out bomb and gun attacks killing more than 4,700 people across Pakistan since July 2007.

But the market bombing was the first major attack in Pakistan since a suicide bomber killed 46 people, targeting anti-Taliban militia at a funeral in the north-western district of Lower Dir in September.