Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

More than 20 people have been killed and many others injured in a car bombing in the north-western Pakistani town of Charsadda.

The BBC reports the blast happened at a busy traffic intersection in the centre of the town.

Witnesses say it was so powerful that surrounding buildings were badly damaged.

The attack is the third in as many days in North West Frontier Province.

Police are trying to determine whether the bombing was a suicide attack. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

More than 300 people have been killed in a wave of attacks as Pakistani troops launched an assault against the Taliban in South Waziristan.

A BBC correspondent says ordinary citizens are increasingly being targeted in bomb attacks. Analysts believe this is because the militants are cornered and under great pressure by the military in South Waziristan.