FIR filed for airport suicide blast

KARACHI:

The Counter-Terrorism Department on Wednesday lodged the first information report (FIR) for Sunday's suicide bombing outside the Karachi Airport which claimed the lives of three people, including two Chinese nationals, police said.

The FIR was registered on the complaint of Inspector Kaleem Khan Musa, station house officer of Airport police station. The FIR carries law sections related to murder, attempted murder, attacking government servants, and violations under the Explosives Act and Anti-Terrorism Act.

The FIR said that the explosion occurred at around 11 pm on Sunday in front of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) guardroom at the Jinnah International Terminal. Upon reaching the scene, police found the bodies of two Chinese nationals near a coaster, and the remains of an unidentified person in a nearby drain.

People present at the scene, according to the FIR, told the police an unidentified terrorist drove his Toyota Hilux close to the vehicles of the Chinese nationals and blew himself up. It added that Jayand Baloch, purported spokesman for the banned Balochistan Liberation Army, claimed responsibility.

The FIR named Commander Bashir Ahmad Baloch alias Bashir Zeb, son of Abdullah Khan, Abdul Rehman alias Rehman Gul, son of Mir Muhammad Afzal and other accomplices and facilitators, plotted the attack and connived with unknown suicide bomber.

The FIR said that the attack against the Chinese nationals and their security detail was carried out with the help of a foreign intelligence agency to commit terrorism in the country, harm Pakistan-China relations and create a sense of insecurity and gain financial benefits.

In Islamabad, the finance ministry said that the deceased Chinese engineers were not involved in the talks about Independent Power Producers (IPP). "Hence, any impression created to this effect by media reports is misleading and has no basis," the ministry added in a statement.