Nine people were killed and 15 others, including a senior judge of the Sindh High Court and three policemen, injured in a blast at Burnes Road area of Karachi on Wednesday.
The incident occurred in the vicinity of Sindh Secretariat, the provincial government’s headquarters.
According to police officials, the bomb was planted in a motorbike and was detonated by a remote control.
The blast took place near the intersection of Urdu Bazaar Road and Court Road that leads to the Sindh High Court.
Police officials opined that terrorists targeted the vehicle of senior judge of Sindh High Court, Justice Maqbool Baqar.
A car, a police van and bike were destroyed in the explosion, while nearby buildings were also damaged.
Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon told reporters that one officer from the Rangers, five policemen and the driver of the SHC judge were among the dead.
Baqar was being treated at a private hospital and his condition was stated to be stable, Memon said.
“We had provided maximum security to Maqbool Baqar, and he was wounded in today’s bomb attack on his convoy,” Memon added.
Later, SSP Nasir Aftab put the death toll at nine after two more policemen succumbed to injuries at a hospital.
Police said Justice Maqbool Baqar was on the hit-list of the proscribed militant organisation Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.
Baqar was on his way to the court when the incident occurred, a senior police official said.
The Bomb Disposal Squad said approximately eight kilogrammes of explosives were used in the blast.
Baqar is known as an honest official and had earlier served as judge in a special anti-terrorism court set up to hand down quick judgments in terrorism cases.
TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan claimed responsibility for the attack, saying they detonated the bomb using a remote controlled device.
“We attacked the judge in Karachi as he was taking decisions against Shariah and was harmful for mujahideen,” he said.
Ehsan said the judge was targeted for what he called were “anti-Taliban and anti-mujahideen decisions”, adding that the group would continue targeting the judiciary.
He said Baqar was part of the “secular system” and the attack was completely in line with the Taliban policy to target all those who were part of the system.
President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, MQM chief Altaf Hussain and leaders of other political parties strongly condemned the blast.
Expressing sympathies with the bereaved families, they prayed for the departed souls and for the courage to the affected families to bear their losses with fortitude.
President and PM directed the authorities concerned to ensure that best medical assistance was provided to the injured.
Meanwhile, Sindh High Court Chief Justice Musheer Alam strongly condemned the bomb attack on Justice Maqbool Baqar.
The SHC CJ said the attack on Baqar was terrorism and such attacks could not frighten the judiciary.
Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah visited Justice Maqbool Baqar at the hospital.