Daily Times

Five Japanese nationals survived a suicide bomb attack on their vehicle on Friday, as police in Karachi shot down a gunman accompanying the bomber, a police spokesperson said.

The attack occurred in the Mansehra Colony area of the port city and injured two passersby.

The Japanese were unhurt and have been moved to a safe place in police custody, the spokesperson, Abrar Hussain Baloch, said, although the two passers-by and a guard accompanying the visitors suffered injuries.

“The police mobile unit, which was nearby, responded to the attackers quickly and the security guards of the foreign guests responded immediately,” Baloch added. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack from any militant group.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah directed the inspector general of the province to submit a report on the attack. The chief minister also directed that ‘immediate arrangements’ be made for the security of foreign nationals in the province.

He added that no anti-national element would be allowed to disrupt law and order “at any cost”. Murad also praised the timely action of law enforcers for thwarting the attack.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the suicide attack in Karachi and commended the police for averting any major loss of life.

The premier prayed for the recovery of the injured and directed authorities to provide all possible aid to the injured.

“We will thwart any nefarious act of disturbing law and order,” said the prime minister.

Condemning the attack, President Asif Ali Zardari said that terrorism will be rooted out from the country and commended the timely response of law enforcers.

Earlier, a vehicle-borne suicide bomber targeted a convoy of Chinese engineers in the remote Besham area of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday, killing six people.

The Chinese engineers were en route from Islamabad to their camp in Dasu – the district headquarters of the Upper Kohistan district of K-P. Their vehicle was hit by an explosive-laden vehicle, coming from the opposite direction, near Lahore Nala on the Karakoram Highway.

The Chinese engineers’ vehicle was thrown off the mountainous road into a deep ravine by the impact of the blast, killing all six on board, including five Chinese engineers and their Pakistani driver. The security forces reached the spot, shut the strategic highway for traffic on both sides and launched an investigation.