At least six people, including three paramilitary personnel and three militants, were killed after heavily armed attackers stormed the Pakistan Rangers’ local headquarters in Karachi’s Gulistan-i-Jauhar area on Saturday. Sindh Inspector General of Police Javed Alam Odho told Dawn that the attackers rammed a vehicle into the main gate before launching the assault. He said officials were initially unable to confirm whether an explosion had also taken place.
Odho said a “mopping-up operation” was underway, with the area sealed off by Special Security Unit (SSU) commandos, the Anti-Terrorist Force (ATF) and Rangers personnel.
Police Surgeon Summaiya Syed told Dawn that one injured paramilitary trooper was brought to the hospital after suffering a gunshot wound to the leg.
The attack prompted a large-scale security response after residents reported heavy gunfire and an explosion in the area. Police cordoned off the locality while emergency services rushed to the scene.
Rescue 1122 Sindh said it received reports of an explosion near Gulistan-i-Jauhar Block 5 and immediately dispatched rescue teams from its central command and control centre.
Later on Saturday, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, an affiliate of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack, according to Al Jazeera. The group said nine militants had taken part in the assault.
The attack comes amid a rise in militant violence targeting Pakistan’s security forces across the country.
Earlier this year, on February 7, the US Embassy in Pakistan issued a security alert for American citizens following reports of a suicide bombing at a Shia mosque in Islamabad’s Tarlai Kalan area.
According to Dawn, at least 31 people were killed and 169 were injured in the blast during Friday prayers at Imambargah Khadijah-tul-Kubra.
Pakistan’s Minister of State for Interior, Tallal Chaudhry, later said forensic investigations showed the suicide attacker was not an Afghan national, although authorities had established that he had travelled to Afghanistan on multiple occasions.
(With ANI inputs)
