Two bomb blasts kill 27 in northwest Pakistan

At least 27 people were killed and dozens more wounded when two bomb blasts struck crowded markets in northwest Pakistan Friday as shoppers prepared for the Eid Muslim festival.

Most of the victims died when an explosives-laden car blew up in a busy marketplace in the heart of Peshawar, the capital of the violence-hit province bordering Afghanistan.

The blast, which killed 21 people and wounded 84, occurred just hours after six people died in a car bomb explosion at a market in the semi-autonomous Orakzai tribal district near Peshawar.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the two attacks, the latest in a wave of suicide and other attacks that have claimed more than 1,500 lives in the past 16 months. ...

The United States and Western countries allege that Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants have set up safe sanctuaries in Pakistan's tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

India blamed last week's Mumbai attacks on "elements" in Pakistan and said all ten attackers who rampaged through its commercial centre were trained in and came from Pakistan.

Pakistan has urged India to end the blame game and has pledged unconditional cooperation in investigating the Mumbai terror attacks.

But the row has threatened to unhinge a four-year-old peace process between the nuclear armed neighbours which have fought three wars since their independence from Britain in 1947. - ap