ISLAMABAD: Four Rangers personnel were killed after a group of militants attacked a paramilitary facility in the southern port city of Karachi on Saturday, a senior police official said, adding that six attackers were killed and another was captured in an injured condition.
The assault began when attackers rammed a vehicle into the outer barricade of the facility under Rangers’ control in Karachi’s Gulistan-e-Jauhar neighborhood before storming the building.
The attack was claimed by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a militant faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has mostly remained active in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in recent years, targeting civilians, security personnel and government functionaries.
“At least four Rangers personnel have been martyred in the terrorist attack,” the police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Arab News over the phone. “Five terrorists have also been eliminated, and the body of the sixth terrorist, who was the suicide bomber, has also been found.”
Meanwhile, another source said one militant was also captured.
“A terrorist [has also been] apprehended in injured condition,” he said
Earlier, police officials told Arab News militants had hit their vehicle into the outer barricade of the Rangers building before hurling hand grenades.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah directed the provincial police chief and Karachi’s additional inspector general of police to submit a detailed report as soon as the assault was reported.
Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city and commercial hub, has witnessed a number of militant attacks over the years, including assaults targeting security forces, government installations and Chinese interests.
Militant groups such as the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and the separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) have previously claimed attacks in the city.
Authorities have yet to issue a formal statement regarding Saturday’s assault, the first claimed by a TTP faction in Karachi in years.
