Karachi incident: Two private university guards injured in blast

Habib University spokesperson denies reports of any attack

KARACHI: At least two security guards were injured when two low-intensity explosives detonated near a private university campus in Karachi’s Gulistan-e-Jauhar neighbourhood Monday evening

“Explosives were hurled from the rear side of Habib University’s campus,” SSP East Javed Jiskani told reporter at the site.

However, a spokesperson for Habib University, Sibtain Naqvi, denied reports of any attack on the campus.

“I am speaking from the campus and I can assure you that no shooting has taken place here. The shooting took place near Rabia City which is half a kilometre away from our campus,” said Naqvi while talking to The Express Tribune.

He added that their security guards had called law enforcers for a security drill. During the drill, they scoured the university for any potential miscreant. The campus has now been cleared.

However, a passerby, Areeba Akhtar, had claimed that she heard firing and saw Rangers and ambulances rushing towards the university.

Later, a man who lives near the university, said that authorities had turned off streetlights in the area and deployed jammers. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, he said that officials were conducting a search near a drain and an empty plot adjacent to the campus.

Key installations including an army base and the old airport are located around the campus. An Airport Security Force check post is also located behind the university, since the route leads to Jinnah International Airport. This is the same place from where the 2014 attack on the airport was launched.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1st, 2015.