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By Associated Press
KARACHI, Pakistan: Militants and suicide bombers launched a deadly attack on the police headquarters of Pakistan’s largest city on Friday, officials said, as the sound of gunfire and explosions rocked the heart of Karachi.
At least one police officer and a civilian were killed and 11 security force members wounded, said government officials and Ghulam Nabi Memon, police chief for the southern Sindh province where Karachi is located. Two of the attackers were also killed, they added.
Security officials said the attackers were wearing suicide bomb jackets, and one of them blew himself up inside the police building.
Pakistani Taliban in a brief statement claimed responsibility.
President Arif Alvi in a statement condemned the attack in Karachi, which is Pakistan’s chief commercial city.
Karachi police chief Javed Alam Odho confirmed that an attack was ongoing and said police and paramilitary troops were responding. Earlier, TV footage showed officers surrounding the city’s central police station.
Residents said they also heard the sound of explosions amid the clashes.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan said five or six militants were involved in the attack and threw hand grenades as they tried to force their way into the police headquarters.
Sharjeel Memon, the Sindh province’s spokesman, said the attackers had been surrounded although shooting and fighting were still underway.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant attacks since November when Pakistani Taliban ended a monthslong cease-fire with the government.
Pakistan’s outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban or TTP are a separate group but are allies of the Taliban in Afghanistan, who seized power there more than a year ago as U.S. and NATO troops withdrew. The Taliban takeover in Afghanistan emboldened Pakistani militants, whose top leaders and fighters are hiding across the border.
The brazen assault on Karachi’s police headquarters comes two weeks after a suicide bomber disguised as a policeman killed 101 people at a mosque in the northwestern city of Peshawar.
Authorities blamed the TTP for orchestrating last month’s mosque bombing and Sarbakaf Mohmand, a TTP commander, claimed responsibility for it.
KARACHI, Pakistan: Militants and suicide bombers launched a deadly attack on the police headquarters of Pakistan’s largest city on Friday, officials said, as the sound of gunfire and explosions rocked the heart of Karachi.
At least one police officer and a civilian were killed and 11 security force members wounded, said government officials and Ghulam Nabi Memon, police chief for the southern Sindh province where Karachi is located. Two of the attackers were also killed, they added.
Security officials said the attackers were wearing suicide bomb jackets, and one of them blew himself up inside the police building.
Pakistani Taliban in a brief statement claimed responsibility.
President Arif Alvi in a statement condemned the attack in Karachi, which is Pakistan’s chief commercial city.
Karachi police chief Javed Alam Odho confirmed that an attack was ongoing and said police and paramilitary troops were responding. Earlier, TV footage showed officers surrounding the city’s central police station.
Residents said they also heard the sound of explosions amid the clashes.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan said five or six militants were involved in the attack and threw hand grenades as they tried to force their way into the police headquarters.
Sharjeel Memon, the Sindh province’s spokesman, said the attackers had been surrounded although shooting and fighting were still underway.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant attacks since November when Pakistani Taliban ended a monthslong cease-fire with the government.
Pakistan’s outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban or TTP are a separate group but are allies of the Taliban in Afghanistan, who seized power there more than a year ago as U.S. and NATO troops withdrew. The Taliban takeover in Afghanistan emboldened Pakistani militants, whose top leaders and fighters are hiding across the border.
The brazen assault on Karachi’s police headquarters comes two weeks after a suicide bomber disguised as a policeman killed 101 people at a mosque in the northwestern city of Peshawar.
Authorities blamed the TTP for orchestrating last month’s mosque bombing and Sarbakaf Mohmand, a TTP commander, claimed responsibility for it.
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