Bomb goes off near mosque, two dead
Moments after the blast, mangoes and motorcycle parts were seen scattered with human flesh and blood on the New Preedy Street, while passers-by stood shocked and confused. Rescue teams rushed the injured to hospital, while the bomb disposal squad gathered evidence from the site.
The blast took place outside the Jama Masjid Muhajir Makki situated on the city’s busiest street. “The blast occurred in the middle of the road. This area or even the mosque was not the target of the attacker who was going somewhere else with the explosives,” Karachi police chief Additional IG Ghulam Qadir Thebo told the media during a visit to the blast site.
According to witnesses, two bikers collided with each other on the road outside the mosque.
Police investigators and the bomb disposal squad believe the bomb was planted on a motorcycle, which exploded after the ‘unplanned’ collision, killing its rider.
Besides this, the man riding the other motorcycle was also killed in the explosion. The alleged attacker was later identified as Abdul Fateh who belonged to Nawabshah and lived in Karachi’s Paposh Nagar area.
The police also raided his house and detained his wife, brother and minor son.
Police investigators said the second motorcycle damaged in the explosion was registered in the name of a person identified as Muhammad Amir Sultan.
District East police chief DIG Munir Shaikh told The Express Tribune that the police was trying to ascertain whether the second man killed in the explosion was an accomplice or not.
Bomb Disposal Squad’s experts, while ruling out the possibility of a suicide bombing, said that it was a motorcycle-borne improvised explosive device (MBIED). “The explosive material weighed around four kilogrammes.
It also included steel nails, which penetrated into the alleged terrorist’s body,” a senior bomb disposal expert told The Express Tribune.
Two motorcycles and windowpanes of nearby shops were badly damaged.
A couple of days ago, intelligence agencies had warned about the presence of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Karachi, stating that TTP’s Omar Bin Zaib faction has established two groups – lead by Sher Bahadur and Haji – to carry out terrorist activities in Karachi.
In response to a question, Karachi CCPO Thebo said there are possibilities of a backlash of the ongoing military operation in North Waziristan.
“They (militants) can target the police, other law-enforcement agencies, the military, vital installations, VVIPs or anyone,” he said. “But we are ready and we are taking timely action to avoid such terrorist acts.
Many of the militants have so far been killed and arrested.”
Published in The Express Tribune, July 5th, 2014.
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