KARACHI: Suicide car bombers and gunmen attacked a government complex housing offices of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Wednesday, sparking a shootout that killed seven people, officials said.The dead included four attackers, one intelligence agent and a government employee, in what was an unprecedented attack in the otherwise sleepy southern town of Sukkur. Although there was no immediate claim of responsibility, it is likely to revive fears that the reach of militancy is spreading in the country.
| Tehreek-e-Taleban does seem to be getting frisky... |
Police said the attackers stormed the complex of offices and homes for senior officials, including those belonging to the ISI, as people broke their fast after sundown. They detonated two bombs -- one outside a police building and a car bomb outside the ISI office in the town. A police official said apparently a suicide bomber first blew himself up in front of a police building and then a second suicide bomber detonated the explosive-filled car outside the ISI office.
"Armed people have attacked. Apparently it is an organised terrorist attack, we have sent a heavy contingent of police to the site," Javed Odho, a Sukkur police officer, told AFP by telephone. A hospital official told AFP that the bodies of an ISI agent and another government employee had been brought into the morgue, and that 15 other people had been admitted with injuries.
"A total of seven people were killed and several injured," said Major General Rizwan Akhtar, head of the paramilitary Sindh Rangers. President Asif Ali Zardari strongly condemned the terrorist attack and expressed sympathies with the bereaved families and prayed for eternal peace of those who were killed. While condemning the attack, minister of defence production said the government is committed to fighting terror. "The government will provide best medical facilities to the injured."