edited by: Shankhneel Sarkar
Last Update: February 18, 2023, 09:00 IST
A police officer protects a site amid damage following an attack on a police station in Karachi, Pakistan (Image: Reuters)
This is the third major attack by TTP targeting Pakistan’s internal security system. Similar attacks were carried out by the terrorist group in 2011 and 2014.
Four people were killed and 19 others were injured in an attack on the police headquarters in Pakistan’s Karachi by the Pakistan Taliban aka Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Friday night.
The terrorists, armed with hand grenades along with assault rifles, laid siege to the police station. Later TTP spokesman Mohammad Khorasani claimed responsibility for the attack.
All the three terrorists who carried out the attack were eliminated.
A civilian, two Pakistan Army Rangers and two policemen were killed in the attack. 14 others were injured, one of whom remains in critical condition.
The entire operation lasted for more than four hours. The terrorists laid siege at around 7 pm on Friday and Murtaza Wahab Siddiqui, a senior leader of the Pakistan People’s Party, the ruling party in Sindh province, tweeted that the terrorists were eliminated at around 11:15.
Talking to media outlets based in Pakistan, dawn And geonewsDIG East Muqaddas Haider said the terrorists had come to the Karachi Police Station (KPO) in a Toyota Corolla. He said one attacker blew himself up on the fourth floor of the building and police killed two others on the roof.
“There were three attackers behind the attack on the Karachi police office. All three are dead now. The police force, rangers and the army helped to defuse the situation. I commend them for their bravery,” Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said in a video statement later.
The Karachi Police Office is located on the main street of Karachi – Sharia Faisal – which also houses several strategic installations including the Pakistan Air Force’s Faisal Base.
All the injured and dead were brought to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.
Murad Ali Shah later said that the police chief was not in the office when the terrorists laid siege. according to a report by dawn, he has ordered to “arrest the culprits behind the attack on the Additional IG office”. He said such an attack on the city’s police chief was “unacceptable”.
This is not the first time that TTP has laid siege to Pakistan’s police and army establishments.
In 2011, the terrorist group attacked PNS Mehran – a densely populated naval base located in Karachi – following a siege of over 17 hours, killing 10 security personnel.
In 2014, TTP attacked Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, in which 14 people died.
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