Three bomb attacks in two hours spread panic in Karachi

Fear grips parents and other citizens as a cop and a student suffer injuries in explosions at a police station, a girls college and a private school

Karachi

A police station, a girls college and a private school in Karachi were attacked with bombs within a span of two hours on Friday, and even though only a cop and student suffered minor injuries in these incidents, an atmosphere of fear and panic gripped the city.

The first attack took place at around 9:15am at the Mobina Town police station on University Road in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. SSP East Jawed Jiskani said two men riding a motorcycle hurled a bomb inside the police station.

Constable Asif suffered a shrapnel injury to his leg because of the explosion.  A police vehicle was also damaged.

The SSP said police had gathered the CCTV footage of the attack which showed that the two attackers were accompanied by a third person also riding a motorcycle and their sketches were being developed.

Soon after the attack on the police station, a girls college, the APWA College, in Karimabad, was attacked in a similar manner.

SSP Central Muqadas Haider said two attackers riding a motorcycle hurled a bomb from the Karimabad bridge that exploded near the college.

Police rushed to the scene and called the bomb disposal squad which collected samples of the explosive material. The squad said the attackers had used a ball bomb which contained ball-bearings.

While the police were gathering information at the scene of the second attack, another explosion occurred inside a private school near Asghar Ali Shah Stadium in North Nazimabad

A matric student suffered minor injuries to his hand in the attack.

The student told the police that somebody had lobbed a cracker bomb inside the school from the rear side of its building.

The SSP said the police were examining the CCTV footage of the incident.

Security increased

The police have increased the security of educational institutions in both the East and Central districts.

The SSP Central said he had ordered SHOs and DSPs of the district to increase patrolling especially at morning hours outside educational institutions.

Three days earlier, the SHO and the DSP of North Nazimabad had met with the administration of the school where the explosion occurred to discuss its security measures.

The counter-terrorism department’s anti-transnational terrorists intelligence group chief Raja Umer Khattab told The News that there were similarities between the attack on the Mobina Town police station and the APWA College, but case of the private school appeared to be different. He added that the police had gone through the footage of the school explosion but could not find anyone hurling a bomb inside the school and that had led to doubts.

Besides, he noted, only one student suffered minor injuries to his hand while everybody else remained unhurt. “We will be able to reach some conclusion after further investigating the case.”

The official said terrorists had used ball bombs containing ball-bearings and detonating cords in the police station and college attacks. “Apparently, the attacks were aimed at creating panic more than anything,” he added.