Pro-Taliban militants claim responsibility for attack on judges in Karachi
Iran Press TV
Wed Jun 26, 2013 2:3PM GMT
Pro-Taliban militants have claimed responsibility for a violent deadly bomb attack that targeted a convoy of senior judicial officials in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi.
Spokesperson for the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Ehsanullah Ehsan, told Pakistan daily newspaper Dawn that the militant group was responsible for the attack in the volatile city.
He further added that senior judges were targeted for "anti-Taliban decisions" in recent months.
Ehsan also vowed to escalate attacks on senior judicial officials across the violence-wracked country.
A powerful bomb explosion struck the convoy of Maqbool Baqir, a senior judge at the High Court of Sindh Province, in Burns Road in Karachi. The attack occurred on the busy street in the morning rush hour.
Baqir was rushed to a nearby hospital with critical injuries, police said. The judge has a reputation for honesty and he has presided over a number of anti-terrorism courts in the country.
The fatal attack left at least 12 people dead. Police officers and passers-by were among the casualties.
Karachi has experienced a fresh spate of violence and targeted killings over the past few months.
Sectarian, political and ethnic violence in Karachi has killed hundreds of people in Pakistan’s main commercial hub so far this year.
Pakistan's top court has ordered the government law enforcement agencies to take immediate action against pro-Taliban militants in the country's largest city.
JR/KA
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
