A major bomb blast rocked the city of Peshawar in north-west Pakistan earlier today, killing almost 100 people. 

Listen to a Newsline interview with Rahul Bedi:

The car bomb went off in the busy Peepal Mandi market district, which is very popular with women for their daily shopping. Peshawar police said the attack was carried out by the Taliban, although no one has claimed responsibility yet.

Fresh campaign
Peshawar and other cities in the north-western region have been hit by deadly bomb attacks lately. They have seen more than 200 people killed since the beginning of this month. The attacks follow a fresh campaign by the Pakistani army to combat the Taliban and other insurgent groups.

The Peshawar attack occurred only minutes after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Islamabad to hold talks with the Pakistani government. Although it’s not clear whether the attacks were aimed at disrupting Ms Clinton’s visit, she said the they show that it’s vital for the US to stand “shoulder to shoulder” with Pakistan. “This fight is not Pakistan’s alone,” she told reporters.
 

Stronger every day
Today’s bomb attack shows that the Pakistani Taliban are far from defeated, even after the killing of their Pakistani leader Baitullah Mehsud in August. In fact, they are getting stronger almost by the day, says Rahul Bedi of the South Asia branch of the International Crisis Group. “They are very much on the ascendant after they regrouped after Mehsud’s death. They have also recalculated their strategy, culminating in today’s attack.”

It’s no coincidence that the north-western region and Peshawar in particular are targeted by the Taliban. “This is where they are the strongest, and where the Pakistani army is specifically targeting them,” Mr Bedi says. “But so far, very few troops have actually been visible on the ground there. The army just doesn’t have the required numbers in the tribal areas to contain the insurgency.”
 

Skills
Another problem for the Pakistani army is that it doesn’t have the skills to fight the Taliban and other insurgents sufficiently. “It is not an insurgency-hardened army,” says Mr Bedi, “it hasn’t had much experience in fighting insurgencies, which makes it a very tough job to effectively fight the Taliban”.

The Taliban in this region are also targeted by drone attacks led by US airplanes.
 

Humanitarian laws
On Wednesday, the UN Commissioner for Human Rights, Philip Alston, issued a report saying that the US is "very probably" violating international humanitarian laws, as these attacks also kill scores of civilians.

But Mr Bedi doesn't think the report will have much of an impact on the US. “A UN condemnation is toothless,” he says. “What does the UN expect? It doesn’t have the power to implement any sanctions on the US. The UN has a moral authority, there’s no doubt about that, but just look at what happens to any UN ruling in Israel and the Palestinian areas. As far as any implementation on the ground is concerned, it’s not even worth trying.”