More than 300 people have been killed in a number of attacks as Pakistani troops launched an assault against the Taliban in South Waziristan.

90 pounds of explosives were placed in a car which then exploded outside the busy market intersection.  So far no one has claimed responsibility, but authorities have blamed similar attacks in recent weeks on the Taliban.

Eyewitness said the vehicle blew up on a road lined with fruit and juice shops, leaving the ground littered with slippers, body parts, and broken push carts.  One witness told reporters “It was a terrible scene. There were injured and wounded everywhere… I joined the relief and rescue operation and myself removed about a dozen casualties.”  Early evidence points to a suicide attack, because body parts and sneakers of the suspected bomber were recovered from the site.

The attack is the third in as many days in the North West Province.  On Monday, a suicide bomber in a rickshaw killed at least three people and wounded five others near a police checkpoint in Peshawar.  On Sunday, at least 12 were killed in a suicide bomb attack near the city in the village of Mattani, including the mayor who had opposed the Taliban. Less than two weeks ago, a car bomb killed 112 people in a Peshawar market, the deadliest attack in more than two years in Pakistan.

Syed Shoaib Hasan of the BBC says ordinary citizens are becoming targets in bomb attacks at an increasing rate.  As the Pakistani army presses an offensive against Taliban militants in the border area with Afghanistan, suicide bombers have stepped attacks on civilians and police officers in northwest Pakistan in an attempt to shake the government. 

The government has pledged to press ahead with the offensive, stating that the recent atrocities against the citizens was evidence of the desperation of the militants. “They are not able to target freely, and that’s why they are targeting innocent people,” said Mian Iftikhar Hussain, information minister for North West Frontier.  “But we and the people of Pakistan are determined to continue this jihad against terrorists undeterred.”

For more information, please see;

BBC News- Deadly Blast Hits Pakistani Town – 10 November 2009

New York Times- Car Bomb Adds to Toll in Northwest Pakistan– 10 November 2009

MSNBC- Police: Bomb Kills 24 at Market in Pakistan– 10 November 2009