Pakistan market bomb 'kills 14'

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Paramedics attend to a child wounded in a suicide bomb attack in Darra Adam Khel. At least 14 people are reported to have died in the blast. Photograph: Fayaz Aziz/Reuters

A suicide bomber in a car blew himself up at a market in northwest Pakistan today, killing at least 14 people, officials said.

The target of the attack in the town of Darra Adam Khel appeared to be members of a pro-government militia created to fight Taliban militants, the officials said, adding that the death toll may rise because 25 people were wounded and several were in critical condition.

Pakistan's military, one of the biggest in the world, has launched several offensives against the Taliban and other militant groups seeking to topple the US-backed government.

But the operations, which have focused on Taliban strongholds in the unruly ethnic Pashtun tribal belt along the border with Afghanistan, failed to break the back of militant networks.