DHAKA: At least 89 people have been killed in a car bomb explosion at a busy market in eastern Afghanistan’s Paktika province.

The defence ministry says, reports the BBC.

Officials say the attacker drove a 4x4 vehicle into the market in Orgun district and detonated the explosives.

The market was crowded, full of people doing their shopping at the time of the attack.

The eastern province of Paktika shares a border with Pakistan's restive and volatile tribal areas.

There have been no claims yet for Tuesday’s attack.

Orgun is one of Paktika’s safest areas, though members of the Haqqani militant network are thought to have a presence there.

A spokesman for Afghanistan’s defence ministry told the BBC that most of the 89 bodies recovered from the rubble were women and children.

‘ANA (Afghan National Army) soldiers are continuing their work of clearing rubbles to look for possible survivors and victims,’ Gen Zahir Azimi said.

Some 42 injured people have been taken to hospital, he added.

BDST: 1732 HRS, JUL 15, 2014