4 Killed As Bomb Destroys Entire Block In Pakistan City

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - A car bomb that reduced an entire city block to cinders has claimed at least 31 lives, and the death toll may reach 50 by the time rescuers sift through the ruins of a large department store, police and hospital officials said today.

The bomb exploded yesterday in the teeming Saddar Street marketplace, creating a giant conflagration in the jumble of stores and outdoor stalls in Peshawar, on the border with Afghanistan. About 100 people were hurt, some of them seriously, officials said.

Dozens trapped in store

Dozens of people were trapped in the Wadood and Sons department store when the bomb went off. Rescuers today were still searching for victims trapped in the store when the bomb exploded, engulfing the three-story building in flames and causing its roof to collapse.

Ghulam Hussain, assistant inspector general of the bomb-disposal squad, said the bomb - packed with more than 50 pounds of explosives - was likely on a timer.

No one has taken responsibility for the attack, but police and government officials have blamed the Afghan government.

Police offered 1 million rupees ($29,000) for information leading to the arrest of people behind the bombing.

Relations between the Pakistani government and President Burhanuddin Rabbani of Afghanistan have nose-dived in recent months. Rabbani accuses Pakistan of supporting his most powerful rival, the Taliban militia. Pakistan has denied the charge.

There had been at least 14 small explosions in Peshawar in the past two months, but damage and injuries were minimal.

Peshawar was the staging arena for Muslim insurgents from Afghanistan who toppled the Communist government in their homeland in 1992.

Bombings were a regular occurrence in the city - home to at least 5 million Afghan refugees during the civil war - and Pakistan routinely blamed the Moscow-backed Afghan government in Kabul.

But the bombings stopped after the Muslim rebels toppled the Communists.

Yesterday's car bomb went off a month after a suicide bomber destroyed the Egyptian Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, killing the attacker and 16 others.

Muslim militants trying to overthrow Egypt's secular government claimed responsibility for that bomb. Police say they have found nothing to link the Egyptian Embassy bombing and yesterday's explosion in Peshawar.

Police holding suspect

Police are holding Ahmed Saeed Khadr, regional director of Canadian-based Human Concern International, in connection with the Nov. 19 embassy bombing.

Jihad, one of three Egyptian groups to claim credit for the embassy bombing, warned Pakistan eight days ago it would "pay a heavy price" if it went on extraditing Egyptian militants.

Pakistan says it has extradited 10 of 11 men wanted by Egypt since an extradition treaty was signed in 1994. Information from Reuters is included in this report.