A bomb blast has killed at least 17 people in a busy market in northwest Pakistan, according to local media. Officials say there were several women and children among the dead and wounded. The attack occurred near the office of a senior government official but it was unclear if it was a suicide attack or a car bomb at the moment.

Many of the wounded are in a critical condition, and were taken to a hospital in the region's main city of Peshawar. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but militants fighting the Pakistani state have launched numerous attacks in ethnic Pashtun areas along the Afghan border.

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