Terror revisits the city

One dead, 11 injured in blast at Kharadar a few days after Saddar bombing

KARACHI:

A blast ripped through a crowded street in the Kharadar locality of the old city area on Monday night leaving one dead and 11 injured, including three policemen.

A police mobile and a rickshaw were completely destroyed in the attack while many motorcycles were damaged, including the bike in which the bomb was planted.

The explosion of the bomb planted on a motorcycle parked behind the Memon Masjid on MA Jinnah Road near Bolton Market was so intense that the boom was heard for kilometers, the buildings shook with the impact while glass panes of many windows shattered.

As per eyewitnesses, fire broke out at the scene after the blast, people ran amok in panic while injured were seen lying on road crying for help. They said that the child of the deceased woman kept tugging at her crying, "Mama, get up." Many a men could not hold back their tears and consoled the child.

The deceased was later identified as Sania Khalid, 30, and the injured include Mushtaq, 35, Habib, 60, Sikandar, 25, Faraz, 25, Ayub, 35, and Abdullah, 22, and ASI Badaruddin, 43. The condition of several of those injured is said to be critical. Rescue volunteers rushed to the scene, while police and Rangers cordoned off the area and a team of bomb disposal squad and crime scene unit were immediately called.

Emergency was declared at Dr Ruth KM Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi where the injured were rushed by Edhi and Chhipa volunteers for immediate medical aid. According to City SSP Shabbir Ahmed Satyar, it was a homemade improvised explosive device (IED) planted under the seat of a bike. The perpetrators detonated the IED when the police mobile came in target range.

Bomb Disposal Squad experts confirmed that two kilogrammes of explosive material was used in the IED which was packed with ball bearings. Talking to the media at the explosion site, South DIG Sharjeel Kharal said that it is not easy to check parked motorcycles for bombs, but the police have started working according to their available resources. He also said that there were similarities between the Kharadar and Saddar bomb blasts.

However, police are working on intelligence leads. Meanwhile, Senior CounterTerrorism Department (CTD) official Raja Umer Khattab said he saw a resemblance between the explosions that took place in Saddar recently and Kharadar areas today.

The target of the blast seemed to be the police mobile that patrolled the area on a daily basis, he added.

On May 12, a Coast Guard vehicle was targeted through an IED placed on a bicycle carrier near Malik Shop on Daudpota Road in Saddar, in which one youth was killed and nine others were injured Condemnations Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif strongly condemned the incident and said all resources of the federal government were available for the Sindh government to trace and catch the perpetrators of the dastardly act of terrorism.

Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said in a statement that CM Murad Ali Shah has taken serious notice of the incident.

"Police and district administrations have stepped up investigations, while emergency has been declared in hospitals." CM Shah has strictly directed to provide best medical facilities to the injured. Sharjeel Memon said that enemies of the country are perpetrating nefarious designs to disrupt the peace of city.

Such moves will not damage the spirits of the people and the government, he said adding, "the clear message to the terrorists is that they will not be spared as the Sindh government has zero tolerance for such incidents."