Explosion after firing near imambargah in Karachi kills one

Armed men first fired at men outside the Imambargah. When rescue officials arrived, low-intensity explosive detonated.

KARACHI: At least one person was killed and a dozen others, including a police official, were injured as unknown men opened firing at Qalandaria Imambargah in Bilal Colony area of Korangi, Karachi, Express News reported. A low intensity explosion followed soon afterwards.

A group of men always sit outside Imambargah Qalandria in Bilal Colony. On Friday evening, unknown armed men opened indiscriminate fire on these men. As a result, Shafiq Mazhar, 28, was killed and five others were wounded.

As police, rescue officials and locals responded to the attack, a low-intensity explosive planted near the Imambargah went off. The explosion injured a further seven more people including a policeman.

Following the incident, the relatives of the victims staged a protest and claimed that the incident was an act of sectarian violence. Protesters blamed the rival sectarian group and demanded the arrest of the rivalry group members.

However, District East DIG Captain (retd) Tahir Naveed while talking to The Express Tribune refuted the claim that it was a sectarian attack, and said that the incident occurred apparently over personal enmity.

The injured were shifted to Jinnah Hospital, reported Express News correspondent Nadeem Ahmed.