A car bomb has exploded in a busy market in central Pakistan, killing at least 20 people and wounding 50 others.
The bombing in Dera Ghazi Khan was the latest in a series of attacks in recent weeks.
The town's commissioner Hassan Iqbal said: 'There are many people trapped in the rubble after the powerful blast demolished some 10 shops.
'The rescue work is under way and we fear the toll may go up.'
Mr Iqbal added: 'It was a terrorist activity, similar to those being carried out in other parts of the country.'
He said the attack damaged the house of an advisor to the Punjab provincial government, Zulfikar Khosa.
The suspected attack was another reminder that President Asif Ali Zardari's weak civilian government has yet to devise a strategy to put down an insurgency.
Pakistan's military is engaged in offensives against Islamist fighters across much of the northwest, including the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.
About 30,000 extra troops poured into South Waziristan in mid-October to try to dismantle the strongholds of the Taliban leadership. Militants have responded with a surge in attacks.
