Bomb kills 24, injures 48 in Pakistan

A suspected car bomb has exploded just outside a crowded market in northwest Pakistan, killing 24 people and wounding nearly 50.

The blast went off at an intersection just outside a busy bazaar in the city of Charsadda. Shops on both sides of the road were destroyed, and electrical wires were knocked down.

The city is located about 40 kilometers north of Peshawar, capital of Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province.

The bombing in Charsadda was the third attack in as many days in, or close to, Peshawar.

Militants have stepped up attacks in recent weeks, in retaliation for an army offensive in a key stronghold along the Afghan border.