Pakistan market bomb 'kills at least 18' in Islamabad

A deadly bomb blast has struck a market on the outskirts of Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, killing at least 18 people, police and medics say.

The high intensity blast took place at a busy fruit and vegetable market early on Wednesday morning, they add.

Dozens of people have been injured in the attack.

No group has said it carried out the attack. It comes a day after 13 people were killed in a bomb attack by separatists in Balochistan province.

A hospital spokeswoman, addressing reporters at the scene, said 50 people were wounded in the market attack.

She said the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences had received 18 bodies, according to the Associated Press.

An AFP reporter at the scene said the blast caused a 1.5m-wide (5ft) crater in the ground, which was littered with body parts.

The blast came at one of the busiest times of day for the wholesale fruit and vegetable market.

Local reporters say the explosives were hidden in boxes of fruit, although this has not yet been confirmed.

Except for an attack on a court house last month, the Pakistani capital has been relatively peaceful in recent times, says the BBC's Mike Wooldridge.

There is currently a ceasefire between the Pakistani Taliban and the government as efforts are under way to find a peace deal.