At least 20 people have been killed in a bomb attack in a market in central Pakistan, officials say.About 50 others were wounded in the blast in Dera Ghazi Khan, which badly damaged a number of buildings.
TV footage showed rescuers struggling to reach people trapped in debris. Officials say the target may have been a provincial official, who was unhurt.
Pakistan has recently been hit by a string of attacks which have left hundreds of people dead or injured.
The BBC's Alem Maqbool in Islamabad says Dera Ghazi Khan lies close to the region where Pakistan's army is carrying out an offensive against the Taliban.
The government said that operation has gone well but many Pakistanis fear the militants have simply escaped to neighbouring towns and cities like Dera Ghazi Khan, where they will continue to wreak chaos.
Buildings wrecked
Police believe the blast was caused by a car bomb, the force of which destroyed shops and damaged other buildings.
"There are many people trapped in the rubble after the powerful blast demolished some 10 shops," senior local official Hassan Iqbal told AFP news agency.
He feared the number of casualties could rise.
District health officer Dr Pervez Haider Altaf told AFP a state of emergency had been declared and people were searching for survivors.
"The hospital in the town has been crowded by the people looking for their relatives. Rescue efforts are still going on," he said.
The house of senior provincial government adviser Zulfiqar Khosa was damaged in the blast but he was not among the injured, officials said.
