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At least three people were killed and dozens of others were injured in two back-to-back blasts near a unit of office of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in Azizabad which is also home to the party’s Headquarter, Nine Zero.
Reportedly the first blast struck near MQM Unit 153 office located in Azizabad Block 8, just a couple of kilometers away from its headquarter, Nine Zero, while the second one tore through the same area minutes after.
The second bomb was be even deadlier as it went off as the rescuers, law enforcers, volunteers, and mediamen thronged the attack site.
DIG of Police (West) Zafar Bukhari said it was a suicide attack.
The outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility of today’s bombings, just the way it did in the past weeks following similar attacks. TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan took the credit of the bombings, reportedly, over the telephone.
Earlier, the TTP had declared democracy as un-Islamic and issued threats of attacks on MQM, ANP and PPP.
The bomb disposal squad has not reached the site even after the second blast.
Earlier, police said the improvised explosive device (IED), which detonated first was planted in a rickshaw, a modus operandi the terrorists reportedly used in some of their early attacks in Karachi.
However, the second IED, which was first reported to be a motorcycle bomb, later turned out a bike-riding suicide bomber who blew himself up near his target.
The sources quoted an eyewitness as saying that the second explosion struck when a policeman challenged a motorcycle rider to stop but the biker detonated himself, which makes the second blast a suicide attack.
The emergency responders have stated rescue work as injured were being shifted to Abbassi Shaheed Hospital. A number of women, children, MQM workers, pressmen, policemen, Rangers were among the injured, sources added.
A spokesman for the Sindh Rangers, said three of their personnel deployed near the bombing site were also among the injured.
Hospital sources said more than a dozen of the critically injured were in the emergency room's operation theater.
MQM leader Anees Qaim Khani is said to have narrowly escaped the bombing as he was in the office by the time the improvised explosive devices went off.
MQM Chief Altaf Hussain has vehemently denounced the bombings in Azizabad which also houses his party’s Headquarters.
The blast smashed the window panes of the building surrounding the crime scene.
Three people were killed and around 27 others including children were injured in another apparent militant attack on Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in Karachi’s Azizabad neighbourhood on Saturday night, DawnNews reported.
Initial reports suggest an election office of the party was the apparent target of the two separate blasts. The office was situated near the MQM headquarters Nine-Zero in Azizabad.
The explosions were heard from far distances and spread fear among the local residents. Nearby buildings and vehicle were damaged while power outage was also reported in the area after the incident.
Injured are being shifted to different hospitals including Abbasi Shaheed Hospital in the violence-ridden metropolis.
Security agencies cordoned off the area but not before the second explosion targeted rescue activities after the first bomb blast, said eye witnesses.
The bomb disposal squad has been called in the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital amid reports of yet another planted bomb there, DawnNews reported.
Speaking to a private TV channel, MQM leader Wasay Jalil said the explosions occurred near the party’s sector office in Azizabad locality. He said several party activists are among the injured.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani Taliban have claimed responsibility of the attack. Speaking to Dawn.com via telephone from an undisclosed location, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said the target was MQM and both bombings were carried out through planted devices.
The MQM, however, has vowed to not bow down to the terrorists. Speaking to DawnNews, the party’s leader, Haider Abbas Rizvi said that MQM has been targeted by forces which do not wish to see it coming into power. “We will continue with our election campaign and no one can deter us from our fundamental right of partaking in polls,” he said.
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