At least 17 people were killed on Wednesday as a bomb tore through a bustling Islamabad market, in the leatest violence to hit government peace talks with the Taliban.

At least 17 people were killed on Wednesday as a bomb tore through a bustling Islamabad market, in the leatest violence to hit government peace talks with the Taliban.

Police and hospital officials said the blast took place around 8:00 am (0300 GMT) at a wholesale fruit and vegetable market close to the capital's twin city Rawalpindi, as hundreds of grocers and sellers gathered to trade.

"At least 17 people were killed and 50 others injured in theblast," Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) spokeswoman Ayesha Isani told AFP in Islamabad.
She said the condition of two patients was very critical.

"It was a bomb blast, heard over a big radius," local police official Tehzeeb Hussain told AFP.

He said a bomb disposal team had reached the site and was collecting information.
The blast left a 1.5-metre (five-foot) diameter crater at the site, which was littered with body parts and guava fruits drenched in blood, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

The attack comes as the government tries to negotiate an end to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan's (TTP) campaign of violence.

Talks began between government and TTP intermediaries in February but continued attacks have led many to question the worth of the process.

The government has freed more than 30 Taliban prisoners in the past week to try to spur talks with the militants and on Friday the TTP said they would extend a ceasefire begun on March 1.

On March 26 a four-member government committee held their first direct meeting with members of the TTP's political council in North Waziristan tribal district.