ISLAMABAD -- A suspected suicide bomber blew up his explosive-laden vehicle in a congested marketplace in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar Friday, killing at least 49 people in an attack that increases pressure on the military to quickly launch a planned offensive against militants in the frontier region of South Waziristan.

The blast, which demonstrates the Islamist militants' ability to strike despite recent setbacks, occurred in the central Khyber bazaar close to the provincial parliament. Provincial Information...