New York, Oct. 29 : Wednesday’s deadly car bomb blast, which decimated a congested market in Peshawar killing over 100 people, mainly women and children, was aimed at destabilising Pakistan’s democratic set-up to create havoc in the country, experts have said.

The blast, which almost coincided with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s arrival in Islamabad, was one of most devastating terror strikes in the country in the recent past.

Former military officials and experts believe that even though outlawed organisations such as the Taliban and Al-Qaeda have disowned the blast, saying they do not target innocent people, militants would continue with such dastardly acts to create havoc and terrorise people.

“The militants want to destabilize the government and intimidate the public. As long as the military operation continues, we can expect such attacks to carry on,” The New York Times quoted Mehmood Shah, a retired brigadier and defense analyst, as saying.

Despite the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) rejecting reports about its involvement in the bomb-blast, a senior intelligence official said it was the handiwork of the Taliban fighters based in Darra Adamkhel.

“We had an intercept last week that spoke of a ‘heart-rending’ attack in Peshawar. The militants spoke of carrying out the attack to ‘unnerve’ the government. This explains why they are now targeting civilians,” the official said on conditions of anonymity.

The attack in Peshawar was not a total surprise, according to Pakistani and American officials, the newspaper said. (ANI)