At least four people are killed in deadly suicide attack as militants storm police compound in Pakistan
- At least four killed after Pakistan Taliban attacked Karachi police compound
- Officials say 18 security force members wounded in the deadly suicide attack
- Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has claimed responsibility for Friday’s bombing
At least four people are dead after militants have launched a deadly suicide attack on the police headquarters in Pakistan’s largest city.
The gun battle raged for hours on Friday as Pakistan Taliban fighters stormed the tightly guarded Karachi Police Office compound. The sound of gunfire and explosions rocked the heart of Karachi for several hours.
Three security force members and a civilian were killed and 18 security force members wounded, according to government officials.
The attack comes just weeks after a bomb blast at a police mosque in the country’s northwest killed over 80 officers.
Officials said that security would be stepped up in the capital Islamabad.
At least four people are dead after militants have launched a deadly suicide attack on the police headquarters in Pakistan’s largest city. Pictured: A police officer stands next to a bullet-riddled wall at the compound in Karachi on Friday
The gun battle raged for hours on Friday as Pakistan Taliban fighters stormed the tightly guarded Karachi Police Office compound. Pictured: Police officers take position the site after group of armed assailants stormed the police headquarters in Karachi on Friday
The attack has left at least four dead and several injured, including 18 security force members. Pictured: Volunteers and workers carry an injured police officer upon arrival at a hospital for treatment in Karachi on Friday
‘Four people were killed in the attack, including two policemen, one ranger, and one sanitary worker,’ Sindh government spokesman Murtaza Wahab Siddiqui said.
‘The operation has concluded with the killing of all three terrorists,’ he said.
Two suicide bombers were killed and at least one blew himself up after entering the police building, officials have confirmed.
A spokesman for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the bombing in a WhatsApp message, saying: ‘Our Mujahideen martyrs have attacked Karachi Police Office. More details to follow.’
Speaking on Samaa TV, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah called the attackers ‘terrorists… armed with grenades and other weapons’ and said they fired at a gate with a rocket.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed Friday to stamp out the violence.
‘Pakistan will not only uproot terrorism, but will kill the terrorists by bringing them to justice,’ he tweeted. ‘This great nation is determined to end this evil forever.’
Murtaza Wahab, a government adviser, confirmed that police and paramilitary forces in a joint operation had cleared the police building within three hours of the attack late on Friday.
‘I confirm that the operation against the terrorists is over,’ said Mr Wahab.
President Arif Alvi condemned the attack in Karachi, which is Pakistan’s chief commercial city, while Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif paid tribute to security forces for the successful operation.
Two suicide bombers were killed and at least one blew himself up after entering the police building, officials have confirmed. Pictured: Investigators examine a damage area after security forces conducting operation against attackers at a police compound in Karachi
A spokesman for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the bombing in a WhatsApp message. Pictured: Paramilitary soldiers and police officers gather after conducting operation against attackers at a police headquarters in Karachi on Friday
Policemen take position near the site of an attack to a police compound in Karachi on Friday
Paramilitary soldiers gesture while they leave after conducting operation against attackers at a police headquarters in Karachi on Friday
Police officers take position after a group of armed assailants stormed the police headquarters in Karachi on Friday
Earlier, TV footage showed officers surrounding the city’s central police station as residents reported the sound of explosions and gunfire.
Pakistan’s interior minister Rana Sanaullah Khan said some of the militants threw hand grenades as they tried to force their way into the police headquarters.
Earlier, Syed Murad Ali Shah, chief minister of Sindh province, told ARY news that security forces had focused on one main building seized by the attackers.
‘It is a five-floor building. Our police and rangers have cleared the first three floors and approaching the fourth. The terrorists are still inside the building.’
An AFP reporter near the scene saw dozens of ambulances and security vehicles arrive outside the compound.
Karachi is Pakistan’s largest city, a sprawling metropolis of over 20 million people and the main trade gateway at its Arabian Sea port.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant attacks since November when the Pakistani Taliban ended a months-long ceasefire with the government.
The assaults are claimed mostly by the Pakistan Taliban, as well as the local chapter of the Islamic State, but separatists from Balochistan have struck over the years in Karachi, capital of the southern Sindh province.
Low-level militancy, often targeting security checkpoints in the north and west, has been steadily rising since the Taliban seized control in neighbouring Afghanistan in August 2021.
Pakistan’s outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban are a separate group but are allies of the Taliban in Afghanistan. The Taliban takeover in Afghanistan emboldened Pakistani militants, whose top leaders and fighters are hiding across the border.
Security personnel inspects by a bullet-riddled wall at a police compound after it was attacked in Karachi on Friday
Security personnel inspect by a bullet-riddled wall at a police compound after it was attacked by Pakistani Taliban in Karachi on Friday
An investigator examines a damaged room after security forces conducting operation against attackers at a police headquarters in Karachi on Friday
The brazen assault on Karachi’s police headquarters comes two weeks after a suicide bomber disguised as a policeman killed 101 people at a mosque in the north-western city of Peshawar.
Authorities blamed the TTP for orchestrating last month’s mosque bombing and Sarbakaf Mohmand, a TTP commander, claimed responsibility for it.
Provinces around the country announced they were on high alert after the mosque attack, with checkpoints ramped up and extra security forces deployed.
‘There’s a general threat across the country but there was no specific threat to this place,’ Interior Minister Sanaullah said of Friday’s Karachi attack.
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan share a common lineage and ideals with the Afghan Taliban.
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