A militant attack on a bus carrying government employees in north-west Pakistan killed 18 people and wounded dozens of others on Friday, reports quoting security officials said.
The vehicle, filled with office-goers from the city of Peshawar to Charsadda, was tore apart as a bomb planted in it exploded on the outskirts of Peshawar. Casualties reportedly included women and children.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack, which bore the characteristics of Taliban bombings in the country.
Capital of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, Pashawar lies close to the militancy-infected north-western tribal region, along the Afghan border.
Resurgence of violence in Peshawar, after a brief lull in recent months, is reported a day after U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the United States was running out of patience with Pakistan, which continued to provide safe havens for militants to launch attacks in neighboring Afghanistan.
One of the strongest attacks on Islamabad from the Obama administration in recent times came from Panetta during his surprise visit to Kabul on Thursday.
Panetta urged Pakistan to take action to root out the al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani terrorist network from its soil, which he said "is an increasing concern" for Washington.
The safe havens in the federally administered tribal areas in Pakistan continue to be a concern, Panetta said.
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