Gen Raheel assures Sindh police of support

Offers condolence to families of slain policemen

Army chief General Raheel Sharif on Thursday assured the Sindh police of the military’s all-out support for eliminating terrorism from the province. He contacted Sindh IGP AD Khawaja a day after seven policemen were gunned down in Karachi.

“In his telephonic conversation with the Sindh police chief, Gen Raheel assured AD Khawaja of the army’s complete support to the police in all aspects to eliminate terrorism from every province,” said a Sindh police statement.

Gen Raheel expressed grief and sorrow over the martyrdom of the policemen and conveyed his condolence to the bereaved families.

Meanwhile, investigators probing the attack said one of the eight attackers went up to the policemen and asked them for their officer, before shooting them. The Muhafiz Force police van was the only target of the attackers.

An officer privy to the investigation said the van, was deployed for the security of a World Health Organisation delegation which was visiting the area to overview the polio campaign. “The foreign doctors were in a private vehicle while two police vans of the Muhafiz Force were on their security duty,” he said.

Four policemen inside the mobile were killed on the spot. The investigator said killing the remaining three policemen did not appear to be part of the militants’ plan. “When the attackers moved towards the streets after shooting the policemen in the van, they found more police officers. Before they could respond, the attackers shot and killed them,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 22^nd, 2016.