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Car Blasts Near U.S. Center In Karachi
Kill Policeman
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Pakistani
policemen remove a wounded colleague after the bombings.
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Additional
Reporting By Asif Farooqi, IOL Correspondent
ISLAMABAD,
May 26 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – A police guard was
killed and at least 32 other people injured Wednesday, May 26, when
two car bombs exploded near U.S. buildings in Pakistan's biggest city
and main port, Karachi.
At
least 32 people were injured, included 10 journalists, press
photographers and television cameramen.
The
explosions occurred near the U.S. Consul General's residence and the
adjacent Pakistan-American Cultural Centre (PACC), police said, adding
the two car bombs exploded half an hour apart.
"It
is an act of terrorism and the U.S. building (PACC building) was
definitely the target," city police chief Tariq Jamil told Agence
France-Presse (AFP).
As
police and reporters arrived to the scene of the first car bomb blast,
another parked car exploded into the crowd injuring dozens of people,
mostly police officers and journalists, reports IslamOnline.net
correspondent.
Police
blamed the attack on Al Qaeda-backed militants who were facing a
crackdown in the city which allegedly served as their stronghold for
many years.
The
U.S. embassy in Islamabad recently warned that already high
anti-American sentiment in Pakistan could rise and said Western
embassies and consulates throughout the country might be "high
priority" targets.
Police
Targeted
Chief
of investigation wing of the Karachi Police Manzoor Mughal told IOL
over the phone from Karachi the target of the two explosions were
police officers who were investigating earlier terror incidents linked
to the extremists.
He
denied the nearby compound of the PACC was the target of the bombings.
"The
compound is more than 2000 yards away from the scene of the blasts.
Its actually out of the high security area."
Mughal
said that several of the injured officers were part of his team which
has been interrogating militants related to similar incidents in the
past, adding this was the second attempt against the police.
He
said the same method was used a few months back to target police when
they had gathered around a vehicle to find clues to a similar type of
explosion and a nearby car blew up.
Mughal,
who sustained minor injuries, said he was not sure whether it was a
time device or a remote control bomb.
"Whatever
it is, the target is obvious. And they are member of my team,"
said the senior police officer.
He
added that his special cell had arrested last week a group of
militants who had on them some evidence which showed that they were
planning to target police.
Mughal
said police and its anti-terror department were the specific targets
of the militants for the sole reason that many of them have been
arrested, interrogated and successfully put on trial in the last two
years by the Karachi police.
"They
take it personally and they have a grudge," he suggested.
Police
arrested last week a top member of outlawed militant group, Harkatul
Mujahideen Al Alami, whose members were blamed for a car bomb attack
outside the U.S. consulate in June 2002, killing 12 Pakistanis.
Operational
chief of the group Atif was carrying a bounty of 3 million rupees on
him.
Harkat
came to surface as a militant group in 2002 when the government had
banned many religious outfits in the country.
The
group is beloved to be a combination of several hardcore splinter
groups having close collaboration with Al Qaeda and other militant
organization.
Mughal
said the police had recovered explosive material, CDs, remote control
and time devices and other equipment.
He
said interrogation of these men had given the clue that they were
planning to attack those police officers who were
"torturing" their brothers and friends.
This
is not the first incident in which police have been targeted by terror
suspects.
A
similar twin explosion occurred some months back in Karachi killing
and injuring policemen.
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