KARACHI: Three policemen were injured in a grenade attack on a police station in Pakistan’s commercial capital of Karachi, police said on Saturday, a day after a deadly bombing in the country’s northwest killed six people.
Karachi, which is home to over 15 million people, has a history of attacks on police by organized gangs involved in drug trafficking and land grabbing as well as by militant groups.
Mehzor Ali, a senior superintendent of police (SSP), said unidentified men lobbed a hand grenade incident the Preedy police station in Karachi’s Saddar business district at 12:16am on Saturday.
“No group has claimed responsibility for the attack,” he told reporters in Karachi. “Bomb disposal squad has been summoned and the incident is being investigated.”
The development came a day after a deadly bombing killed a top cleric among six people at a mosque in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, according to officials.
The blast occurred during Friday prayers at Darul Uloom Haqqania, one of Pakistan’s largest and most influential religious seminaries.
Separately on Friday, nine people, including a paramilitary troop, were injured in a roadside blast in Quetta in the southwestern Balochistan province, police said.
No group has claimed responsibility for Friday’s attacks either, but Pakistan has been battling twin insurgencies — one mounted by religiously motivated groups like the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the country’s northwest and the other by ethnic Baloch separatists in Balochistan.
Three cops injured in grenade attack in Pakistan’s Karachi day after deadly bombing in northwest
https://arab.news/r9u9g
Three cops injured in grenade attack in Pakistan’s Karachi day after deadly bombing in northwest
- No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack on the police station in Karachi’s Saddar
- Pakistan, battling twin insurgencies, has witnessed a surge in militant violence in recent months
Pakistan stocks hit record high on hopes of rate cut, improved US ties
- Benchmark index gains 2,662 points, or 1.44 percent, to close at an all-time high of 187,761 points
- Engro, UBL, Hub Power, Fauji Fertilizer, Meezan Bank and Service Industries added 1,554 points to index
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) hit a record high as it surpassed the 187,500-point mark on Monday, with analysts citing improving ties with the United States and expectations of an imminent interest rate cut.
The benchmark KSE-100 index gained 2,662.86 points, or 1.44 percent, to close at an all-time high of 187,761.69 points, up from the previous close of 185,098.83 points, according to PSX data.
The stock gains came a day after President Donald Trump invited Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to join the so-called “Board of Peace” for Gaza, amid increasing Pakistan-US diplomatic and economic engagement since Trump’s rise to presidency.
“Falling government bond yields and improving Pakistan-US relations played a catalyst role in record close at PSX,” Ahsan Mehanti, chief executive officer of Arif Habib Commodities, told Arab News.
Meanwhile, Karachi-based market research firm Topline Securities said bulls extended their rally as hopes of a rate cut by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fueled investor sentiment.
“Investor sentiment remained upbeat, largely fueled by rising expectations of an imminent interest rate cut,” it said in a post on X. “Market participants increasingly priced in a 50bps reduction in the upcoming monetary policy, which kept buying interest alive and underpinned broad-based gains.”
In December, the SBP cut its key policy rate by 50 basis points to 10.5 percent, resuming monetary easing after four meetings in a move that surprised many despite International Monetary Fund guidance to keep policy “appropriately tight” to anchor inflation expectations.
Engro Holdings Limited (ENGROH), United Bank Limited (UBL), Hub Power Company Limited (HUBC), Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited (FFC), Meezan Bank Limited (MEBL) and Service Industries Limited (SRVI) collectively added 1,554 points to the benchmark index on Monday, according to Topline Securities.
“Total market volumes stood at 1,195 million shares, while the value of shares traded amounted to Rs63.7 billion,” the research firm said. “[Bank Makramah Limited] BML led the volume chart, emerging as the most actively traded stock with 246 million shares.”
