Bomb Kills 80 as Clinton Arrives in Pakistan

At least 80 people were killed today when a bomb ripped through a busy market in Peshawar, hours after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in the country to show American support for its campaign against Islamist militants. Clinton, on her first official visit to the country as secretary of state, was three hours away in Islamabad at the time of the attack. Many others were injured and the death toll is expected to rise, doctors tell AP. The market is reserved for families, and many of the dead are women.

Several structures and a mosque were badly damaged in the bombing, and a blaze engulfed a building, a witness told Reuters. Militant attacks have soared since the Pakistani military began an offensive against the Taliban's Waziristan sanctuary earlier this month. "It is important for Americans and others to recognize the high price the Pakistanis are paying” in the fight against Islamic extremists, Clinton told reporters earlier today.
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