Powerful bomb blast kills 17 at crowded market in Pakistani town close to Afghan border
Targeted: Pakistani Army soldiers stand at the site of a car bomb explosion that killed 17 people in the Pakistani town of Darra Adam Khel in the troubled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan
Destruction: Pakistani security officials inspect the wreckage of a destroyed vehicle at the site of a bomb attack in Darra Adam Khel
Rubble: Forty people were also injured in the blast that destroyed numerous shops and cars
No group immediately claimed responsibility, but the Pakistani Taliban have staged similar attacks in the tribal region of Darra Adam Khel to punish elders for backing security forces in offensives against militants.
Tragic: A paramedic with a wounded child at a local hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan
Survivor: A boy who was injured in a bomb explosion receiving medical treatment at a local hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan
Bystanders: Children were among those injured in the blast in Darra Adam Khel near to a local anti-insurgent peace committee office, which officials said was the target of the attack
The dead and wounded, including some in critical condition, had been transported to hospitals in the north-western city of Peshawar.
The region, which is in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, is famous for its weapons market selling guns made by local craftsmen.
Provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain blamed the Pakistani Taliban, noting the fundamentalist Islamic movement also had tried to kill a 14-year-old girl who is an advocate of education for girls and a critic of the Taliban.
Aftermath: A Pakistani injured blast victim covered in blood arrives at a hospital following the bomb attack in Peshawar
Helping hands: Pakistani men help an injured blast victim get out of a car at a hospital
Similar: No group has claimed responsibility for the bomb yet but the Pakistani Taliban have carried out similar attacks in the past
Malala Yousufzai was shot and wounded by a Taliban gunman in the Swat Valley on Tuesday. The attack has drawn widespread condemnation.
Mr Hussain urged the federal government to consider launching a 'decisive operation against terrorists' to eliminate the militants.
'These Taliban have killed our innocent people in so many attacks. They are still killing our people.
Instead of wasting time, we should hit them back, and we should do it as early as possible to save the precious lives of our innocent girls like Malala Yousufzai,' he told reporters in Peshawar.
Wreckage: Seen through the wreckage of a vehicle, Pakistani Army soldiers check the site where a powerful car bomb went off outside the offices of pro-government tribal elders in northwestern Pakistan
Armed: A paramilitary soldier keeps guard near the site of the bomb attack in the troubled town of Darra Adam Khel near the Afghan border
Ruined: Many have lost homes and businesses in the explosion
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