Karachi: At least two policemen were killed and 14 others injured on Friday when Pakistani Taliban militants targeted a vehicle of an elite police force with a bomb in the country's financial capital here.
The Taliban militants carried out a bomb attack on a police vehicle at the Murghi Khana bus stop in the congested Quaidabad area of Karachi.
Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) in a statement claimed the responsibility of the attack. TTP spokesman Muhammad Khorasani said at least five kilograms of explosives were used in the attack.
Senior police official Munir Sheikh said the explosives were planted on a motorcycle and exploded as the vehicle of Sindh Police's Special Security Unit was passing by.
Two policemen were killed and about 14 injured in the attack, he said.
The injured were shifted to the government-run Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.
Dr Seemi Jamali, spokesperson of the hospital, said that 12 wounded persons had been brought into the hospital for treatment and at least one injured was critical.
The Station House Officer of Quaidabad police station Ahmed Nawaz said the impact was strong and two policemen were killed on the spot while the injured also included civilians who were at the bus stop.
Around 50 police personnel were travelling in the vehicle at the time of the blast.
Inspector General of police, Ghulam Qadir Thebo said that the attack was possibly in retaliation to the successful operation in Karachi against militants and criminals.
"The terrorists are targeting policemen in retaliation and it is not the first time they have carried out such an attack," he told PTI.
The Special Security Squad is an elite squad that guards VIPs, and were on their way to guard Bilawal House, the residence of former president Asif Ali Zardari.
This is the second Friday in succession that the Taliban has carried out a terrorist attack in Karachi which is Pakistan's biggest city and financial hub.
Last week terrorists carried out a bomb attack on a Bohri shia Muslim mosque in the old Karachi Arambagh area and later two personnel of the paramilitary rangers were also gunned down in a part of the city.
Police had lost over a 100 brave police officers since last year to targeted killings, bomb blasts and hand grenades had also been thrown at police stations.
Thebo said since the operation began in late 2013 in the city around 600 militants of banned outfits like TTP had been killed by law enforcement agencies and several arrested.
The government launched an operation in 2013 to eliminate them but they are still active in certain areas.
At least two soldiers of paramilitary Rangers were killed in a suicide attack on their vehicle in Karachi on March 20.
