7 killed as police targeted in Karachi

At least seven people, including five policemen, were killed and 14 others injured in a suicide bombing and another targeted attack in the violence-hit city on Thursday. The bomb targeted a senior superintendent of police in Malir Halt area of the troubled district. Sources said SSP Rao Anwar was patrolling with his squad when a bomber rammed his explosives-laden motorbike into an Armored Personnel Carrier in the convoy. As a result four people, including two policemen, were killed and 14 were injured in the explosion. “The attack targeted me. I was moving with my squad in Malir Halt district when the explosion took place. I am unhurt, but some of my men have been injured,” Anwar said. The banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for the suicide attack. Several nearby shops and buildings were also damaged due to the intensity of the blast. Rescue teams reached the spot and kicked off relief efforts while police and Rangers cordoned off the area. The injured were shifted to the emergency unit at Jinnah Hospital.
PIB COLONY SHOOTING: In the other attack, three policemen, an ASI among them, were gunned down early on Thursday morning in PIB Colony area. Officials said the three policemen, identified as ASI Dhani Bux, head constable Ramzan and constable Nisar, were performing their duties in PIB Colony when unidentified attackers opened fire on them.
“The terrorists were between six and eight in number. They intercepted the police mobile SP-0461 and opened fired on the patrolling party,” an official on the spot said. He said the cops were critically injured and were rushed to Jinnah Hospital but could not survive their injuries, adding that the assailants also snatched weapons of the policemen after shooting them down. The deceased were from Ferozabad police station.
Police and government officials say over 50 people have lost their lives in violence over the last 10 days, and arsonists have set more than 50 vehicles alight. The latest spree of violence started after renewed ethnic and political tensions between the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), and Awami National Party (ANP). Both parties are PPP’s allies in the government. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said 1,715 people were killed in sudden flare-ups of violence in the city last year.