A welcome according to time-hallowed local custom. “Car bomb kills 90 in Pakistan as Hillary Clinton visits,” by Zeeshan Haider and Andrew Quinn for Reuters, October 28 (thanks to Maxwell):
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) – A car bomb ripped through a crowded market killing 90 people in Pakistan’s city of Peshawar on Wednesday, just hours after Washington’s top diplomat arrived pledging a fresh start in sometimes strained relations.
Wednesday’s bomb, the latest urban attack since the army launched a major assault on rural Taliban strongholds two weeks ago, was the deadliest since 2007 when around 140 died at a procession to welcome home former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated just weeks later.
The bomb went off in the busy Peepal Mandi market street in a city that for years served as the headquarters of the Pakistan- and U.S.- backed mujahideen war against the Soviet Union’s occupation of Afghanistan.
Although nobody claimed responsibility, suspicion immediately fell on Pakistani Taliban militants who are the target of the army offensive….
Hours after the blast, visiting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a news conference that Washington fully supported Pakistan’s battle.
“I want you to know that this fight is not Pakistan’s alone,” she said.
“So this is our struggle as well and we commend the Pakistani military for their courageous fight and we commit to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Pakistani people in your fight for peace and security.”
Sahib Gul, a doctor at Peshawar’s main hospital, said the dead from Wednesday’s bomb were mostly women and children.
“Several buildings and a mosque have been badly damaged while a fire has engulfed buildings,” witness Aqueel-ur-Rehman told Reuters from the market, which mostly deals in groceries and household goods….