Peshawar, 29 October (AKI) - Medics have confirmed at least 105 people were killed and 200 wounded in the massive car bombing of a crowded market on Wednesday in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar. The death toll could rise further as at least 13 out of 40 people being treated in hospital for their injuries were reported to be in a critical condition. Many are severely burned.

The Pakistan Taliban have denied carrying out the attack, but the government blames them for a series of attacks that have killed hundreds of people across the country in recent weeks.

The blast destroyed a number of buildings including a mosque and triggered a huge fire which swept through warehouses and shops near the city's Meena Bazaar. Many of the dead were women and children, Pakistani daily Dawn said.

Many of the bodies were charred beyond recognition making the identification process hard. The blast was so massive that it jolted the whole area causing plumes of dense black smoke and dust to billow out of buildings and fill the air, according to eyewitnesses.

The eyewitnesses reported horrifying scenes of carnage with dead and dying people and body parts lying on the ground and the injured screaming for help.

Dawn News quoted an unnamed senior intelligence official as blaming terrorists based in the North West Frontier Province town of Darra Adamkhel for the bombings.

"We intercepted a call last week in which militants were talking about a ‘heart-rending’ attack in Peshawar," the official said.

A representative of the shopkeepers’ association in Peshawar was cited as saying threats had been received in recent days with militants demanding that women be forbidden from going to the market.

Emergency services were reported on Thursday to still be clearing debris from the bomb site. Police believe over 150 kilogrammes of explosives were used in the attack and that an initial investigation indicated the bomb had been detonated by remote control.

Parking outside local shops is not allowed and it was unclear who the driver of the explosives-laden car managed to park it there.

The attack came as United States secretary of state Hillary Clinton was in Pakistan on a three-day official visit. Speaking in Islamabad on Wednesday, Clinton condemned the Peshawar blast.

Clinton said the "horrific bombing" left no doubt that "Pakistan is in the midst of a battle against extremists."

"This is not your fight alone... You're standing on the frontlines of this battle but we are standing with you," she said.

US president Barack Obama's administration wants to engage with Pakistan, which traditionally sees America as interested only in securing its military cooperation in the fight against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

Clinton has already committed 85 million dollars to countering poverty, 125 million dollars to improving Pakistan's woefully inadequate electricity supply and 104 million dollars to law enforcement and border security assistance.

During a visit to the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Thursday, Clinton visited a mosque, unveiled cash for universities and called for peace with India.

She announced a 45-million-dollar investment for higher education in Pakistan ahead of a meeting with business leaders.

Clinton's visit to the second largest city in Pakistan, which has been hit by a series of gun, suicide and grenade attacks this year, took place amid draconian security measures.