Woman killed, scores injured in blast in Pakistan's Karachi

KARACHI: A woman was killed and nearly a dozen others were wounded in a bomb blast in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi, police said on Monday. 

The blast occurred in the densely populated Kharadar area of the city, according to eyewitnesses. It appeared to target a police patrol. 

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but a senior police official said it could have been carried out by the same group that claimed last week’s blast in the nearby Saddar area.  

“Similar method and explosives have been used in both blasts and the law enforcement has remained the target in congested markets,” Raja Umar Khattab, a senior counter-terrorism police official, told Arab News. 

The bomb was planted on a bike parked next to a police mobile, said S M Alim, chairman of the local market association, who was present at the site.  

"It went off at around 9:50pm and injured 12 people," Alim said. 

The injured persons were immediately rushed to Civil Hospital after the blast, which damaged the police vehicle and nearby shops. 

On May 12, a similar attack killed one person and wounded 13 others in the busy Saddar area, just a few kilometers away. The Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army (SRA), a shadowy secessionist organization that wants Sindh to break away from the Pakistani federation, claimed the Saddar attack.

Sindh Chief Secretary Sohail Rajput imposed an emergency at Civil and Jinnah hospitals after the blast. 

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the incident and extended his heartfelt sympathies to the families of the victim and injured persons, PM’s office said. 

He directed authorities to immediately arrest the perpetrators, assuring the Sindh government of the federation’s full support.