Shredded burqas and veils lay smouldering on roofs and scattered among severed limbs as the choking black dust settled after Peshawar’s worst terrorist atrocity last week. The anguished wails of trapped women and children echoed in the blazing rubble of a once bustling marketplace.

As the death toll of Wednesday’s car bomb in the northwestern Pakistani city reached 117, it became clear that women have now become key targets in the militants’ twisted strategy of creating mayhem across this volatile, nuclear-armed country.

Such was the revulsion at the deaths of so many women and children that even the Taliban and Al-Qaeda tried to distance themselves from the atrocity, although few believe their denial of responsibility.

The bomb was planted in a pick-up truck in the narrow lanes between the Meena and Koochi bazaars, famous for their women’s dresses, cosmetics, jewellery and household items. Its victims included brides preparing for their weddings and housewives browsing through the latest fashions.

Shopkeepers said they had received threatening letters warning the market was a “den of immorality” because it catered for women. “We’ve received threats and there was a bomb blast around four months ago to harass the women,” said Sher Shah, who saw three women vaporised outside his shop by the explosion.

Witnesses spoke of hellish scenes: blood seeped out of a pipe at one damaged building, alerting rescuers to the presence of victims. Inside they found two young children, their bodies in pieces.

Abidullah, a 20-year-old student, narrowly missed the blast. He rushed to where he had planned to meet some friends for lunch but they were gone. “Nothing was left. Parts of bodies were hanging from the awnings of shops, some bodies were burnt and others were burning,” he said.

By Friday 60 people, many of them women, were unaccounted for, with relatives still searching through the ruins.

Riaz Khan, a driver, lost two sisters, a sister-in-law, two nephews and four nieces. Only four bodies were found. “Perhaps they are under the debris or mutilated beyond recognition,” he said. “I don’t know what to do or where to go.”

A deathly fear has gripped Peshawar, a city of more than 2m that serves as capital of the North-West Frontier Province and the commercial, political and cultural hub of the Pashtuns in Pakistan.

Hemmed in on three sides by Taliban, it has borne the brunt of revenge attacks for a two-week operation against militants in South Waziristan, on the Afghan border.

The siege mentality has spread to all Pakistan’s cities. In Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore, people no longer frequent restaurants and they shop only when necessary. Schools are erecting blast walls or closing down.

Many parents, like Maliha Makhani, a mother of children aged six and seven, are hiring private tutors to teach their children at home. The school in Karachi had employed a sharpshooter and six armed guards, but when warned of hostage taking Makhani withdrew her children. “It’s just not worth it any more,” she said.

The closure of schools and colleges was prompted by the suicide bombing of the International Islamic University in Islamabad a fortnight ago, which killed six and injured 21. Again, women were targeted, with one suicide bomber blowing himself up at the entrance to the women’s canteen.

Khadim Hussain, a professor at Islamabad’s Bahria University, said the targeting of women was a clear strategy of the militants seeking to cripple the Pakistani state. Girls’ schools, shops and businesses that cater to women are sinful in the militants’ eyes, he said.

The attacks have created a mood of defiance among many Pakistanis who have shown renewed support for the military offensive in South Waziristan. This has not gone unnoticed by the Pakistani Taliban, who attempted to deny responsibility for the Peshawar and Islamic University attacks.

Rehman Malik, the interior minister, dismissed the Taliban denials. “You are neither Muslim nor Pakistani because you have killed our daughters and you have burnt down so many schools. The nation has decided to take you on,” he said.

He told The Sunday Times that while the government had the “will and determination” to fight terrorism it did not have the capacity: “In this guerrilla warfare we need experts and our forces need to be trained.”

The government has faced criticism for its failure to provide security for schools and businesses, with the urban middle classes, shopkeepers and traders showing unprecedented backing for the army.

Last week the army claimed to have discovered the passport of a German citizen, Said Bahaji, an Al-Qaeda operative implicated in the 9/11 attacks, in a captured South Waziri village used as a militant headquarters. Evidence of other foreign militants was also uncovered.

The army claimed further progress, advancing on the Taliban strongholds of Sra Rogha, Makeen and Kanigoram after capturing Kotkai and Sherwangai, a militant base.

Last week’s bombing came as Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state who was on a three-day visit to Pakistan, said: “This fight is not Pakistan’s alone. This is our struggle as well. We will give you the help you need.”

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