Attackers struck a headquarters of the paramilitary Sindh Rangers in Karachi's Gulistan-i-Jauhar neighborhood on Friday, killing three soldiers in a combined vehicle bombing and gun assault, Al Jazeera reported.
The assault
Sindh's police chief, Inspector General Javed Alam Odho, said the assailants rammed a vehicle into the compound's main gate before a group of about five gunmen pushed inside under the cover of the blast, according to Al Jazeera. Three Sindh Rangers personnel were killed, Dawn reported, and several of the attackers were also killed as security forces moved to clear the site. At least two people were taken to hospital with injuries.
Security response
Counter-terrorism units, Special Security Unit commandos and additional Rangers were deployed to the area, which was cordoned off as a clearance operation got under way, Al Jazeera reported. Sindh's chief minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, ordered officials to prepare a detailed account of the incident.
No claim of responsibility
No armed group had claimed the attack as of Friday, and authorities had not publicly identified the assailants or any affiliation. A coordinated vehicle bombing and armed assault is a tactic used by several militant groups operating in Pakistan, but attributing this attack to any of them before an official finding would be premature.
Context
Karachi, Pakistan's largest city and commercial center, has seen periodic militant attacks, though violence there has broadly declined since major security operations began in 2013 — campaigns in which the Sindh Rangers, a federal paramilitary force, played a central role. Pakistan as a whole has faced a sharp rise in militant attacks since the Pakistani Taliban (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan) ended a ceasefire with the government in late 2022, with security forces in the northwest and southwest bearing the brunt. An attack on a Rangers facility in a major city like Karachi, if confirmed as a militant operation, would mark a notable strike against federal security infrastructure. Investigations were continuing, officials said.
