Nov. 8 (Bloomberg) -- At least 12 people were killed and 35 injured in a suicide bombing attack in Pakistan’s Peshawar city, said Mian Iftikhar Hussain, minister of information in the Northwest Frontier Province.

“The suicide bomber blew himself up in a cattle market,” Hussain said. A Pakistani Taliban group claimed responsibility for the attack, Ummaer Khan, spokesman of Tehreeke Taliban Pakistan, said by phone.

Pro-Taliban insurgents stepped up suicide bombings and attacks after Pakistan’s army began its biggest offensive against extremists in the South Waziristan region bordering Afghanistan. Today’s bombing brings the combined death toll to more than 300 people.

Addul Malik, chief of union council, was among those who died, Hussain said. Malik was a former Taliban supporter turned anti-militant mayor, Agence France-Presse said today.

To contact the reporters on this story: Anwar Shakir in Karachi at ashakir1@bloomberg.net; Khaleeq Ahmed in Islamabad at kkhan8@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 8, 2009 04:44 EST