ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday vowed to root out “terrorism” from Pakistan after militants killed at least four people at a police compound in the southern port city of Karachi, which was claimed by the Pakistani Taliban.

At least four people were killed when Pakistani Taliban militants stormed the Karachi Police Office (KPO) on Friday, with a gunbattle raging for hours as security forces went floor-to-floor through the office building in pursuit of the assailants. The attack came weeks after a bombing at a police mosque in the country’s northwest killed more than 80 officers.

The Pakistani Taliban said their fighters had stormed the tightly guarded compound, which is home to dozens of administrative and residential buildings as well as hundreds of officers and their families. The group shares a common lineage and ideals with the Afghan Taliban.

Murtaza Wahab, a spokesman for provincial government in the southern Sindh province, said two policemen, one paramilitary soldier and a civilian were killed in the attack, while 14 others were injured. An operation by police and Rangers paramilitary force had neutralized all three assailants, he added.

“I strongly condemn the terrorist attack on the police in Karachi and salute the brave police and law enforcement personnel who foiled the attack,” Sharif wrote on Twitter on Saturday.

“Pakistan will not only root out terrorism, but will take a sigh of relief only after bringing the terrorists to justice.”

Karachi is Pakistan’s largest city, a sprawling metropolis of more than 20 million people, and the main trade gateway at its Arabian Sea port.

A low-level militancy, often targeting security checkpoints in Pakistan’s north and west, has been steadily rising since the Taliban seized control in neighboring Afghanistan in August 2021.

The assaults are claimed mostly by the Pakistan Taliban, as well as the local chapter of Daesh, but separatists from Balochistan have also struck over the years in Karachi, capital of the southern Sindh province.

Investigators blamed an affiliate of the Pakistan Taliban for the January blast at a mosque inside a police compound in Peshawar that killed more than 80 officers.

Provinces in Pakistan announced they were on high alert after the 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 Rana Sanaullah said of Friday’s attack in Karachi.