Two police commandos killed in bomb attack

Karachi
Two police commandos were killed and a dozen others injured in a bomb attack on their vehicle in the Murghi Khana area near Quaidabad on Friday morning for which the Taliban have claimed responsibility.
Police said Special Security Unit personnel were travelling from the Razzaqabad training centre to the South range for deployment when at around 7:30am an improvised explosive device planted on a motorcycle exploded next to their bus.
Thirteen SSU commandos were wounded in the blast and rushed to the Jinnah hospital. A rickshaw driver also suffered injuries in the explosion.
Two constables, Saddam Hussain and Chander Singh, expired at the hospital. The other commandos were indentified as constables Mehar Ali, Altaf, Sudheer, Ismail, Tayyab, Asif Ali, Sain Bux, Sabir Hussain, Ali Nehal, Ataullah and Asif.
The injured rickshaw driver, Mohammad Saleem, was also admitted to the hospital.
Hospital sources said Mehar Ali was in a serious condition and shifted to a private medical facility.
Counter-terrorism department chief Raja Umer Khattab said the improvised explosive device was planted on a motorcycle bearing registration number KFY-0317. He added that the bomb was detonated using a remote control. The device contained five kilogrammes of explosives as well as ball bearings and nut bolts.
The official said the motorcycle belonged to Baldia police official Mohammad Jameel who was murdered by a banned outfit in Ittehad Town in 2012. The terrorists had taken away his motorcycle after killing him.
Khattab observed that the terrorists were apparently monitoring the activities of SSU personnel and were aware that the latter travelled regularly to the South range for deployment at a sensitive location.
“Whenever the SSU vehicle left the Razzaqabad headquarters, it was escorted by two police vans,” he added. “On Friday, the terrorists targeted the SSU bus, but the escorting vans remained safe.
The official said the terrorists were targeting the law enforcement agencies in response to the crackdown against them.
On February 13 last year, 13 police commandos were killed and over 57 injured when their bus was attacked with a car bomb outside the Razzaqabad training centre on the National Highway.
The funeral prayers for the two police commandos killed in Friday’s attack were offered at the SSU headquarters in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. IGP Ghulam Hyder Jamali, DIG East Munir Ahmed Sheikh and other senior police officials participated in their funeral.

Altaf condemns attack
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief, Altaf Hussain, condemned the bomb attack, on a bus carrying personnel of the Special Security Unit, resulting in the death of two policemen while injuring several others.
Hussain said terrorists and extremists were continuously targeting police officials, which was a cause for serious concern, adding that the matter should be tackled with in a practical manner.
Demanding the president, PM and the federal interior minister of taking stern action against the terrorists, he added that those making tall claims of providing protection to the life and property of the citizens were not presenting the true picture.
He expressed condolences to the bereaved families of the slain cops.