Under attack: Four injured as militants target security forces truck

Police claim they are certain that law enforcers were the target but don’t know which ones

KARACHI: The residents of Baldia Town woke up to a loud explosion on Wednesday morning.

Around 8:15am, a bomb planted on a motorcycle went off with a bang. The bomb’s target was a vehicle carrying security personnel.

The police said that four bystanders were injured in the blast and were taken to Civil Hospital, Karachi. The injured were identified as Shafi Muhammad, Arif Gul, Waheed, and Sajjad. Doctors at the hospital said that they were all out of danger.

They added that the vehicle was damaged and the law enforcers managed to escape unhurt.

Sources claim that the bomb was so powerful that it shattered the windowpanes of all the buildings in the vicinity.

Experts from the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) reached the blast site to collect evidence. They said that the suspects had used an improvised explosive device (IED) and it had been planted on a motorcycle parked near the garbage dump. They added that it weighed around two kilogrammes, including the ball bearings. Police officials suspect that security forces were being targeted by the militants. They are, however, not sure which security force was the target. “We are sure that the attack was supposed to be on the security forces as the bomb exploded just after the truck carrying security personnel passed by,” said District West police chief SS Irfan Baloch while talking to The Express Tribune. “We are trying to ascertain who exactly they were targeting - Coast Guards, Rangers or someone else.” He added that the IED did not injure any law enforcers; only four civilians who were waiting for a bus at the bus stop at the time of the blast were injured.

This is the second attack in three days on law enforcement agencies in Karachi. On Monday night, at least four armed assailants on two motorcycles targeted a police mobile on MA Jinnah Road with a hand grenade. Two policemen died in the attack while another was injured.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 13^th, 2014.