22 killed, 70 injured as blast hits fruit market in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD, Apr 9 (agencies) At least 22 people were killed and more than 70 others were injured when a bomb went off inside a fruit market in Pakistan's capital Islamabad  Wednesday morning, the latest violence to hit government peace talks with the Taliban.

The blast took place around 8:00 am (0300 GMT) at the wholesale market close to the Pakistani capital's twin city Rawalpindi, as hundreds of grocers and sellers gathered to trade.

The bombing -- the deadliest to hit Islamabad since a huge truck bomb at the Marriott Hotel in 2008 -- left a 1.5-metre (five-foot) diameter crater and littered the site with body parts and guava fruits drenched in blood.

The attack comes as the government tries to negotiate an end to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan's (TTP) campaign of violence.

Talks began between government and TTP intermediaries in February, but more than 160 people have been killed in attacks since the start of the process, leading many to question its worth.

Javaid Qazi, the vice-chancellor of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital, said 22 people had been killed and 96 wounded in the blast.

The TTP's main spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said the group had nothing to do with the attack and urged the government to find those responsible.

Police Inspector General Khalid Khattak said that the blast happened when more than 1,500 people were buying and selling fruits in Pir Wadhai fruit market, a big market spreading over an area of one km, located at southwest I-11 sector of Islamabad. He said that police was patrolling in the market.

The bomb disposal unit said that an estimated five kg of lethal explosives fixed in guava crates were exploded by a remote controlled device.

The Inspector General said that they are investigating about the seven trucks that brought guava crates to the market from central Pakistan.