Security agencies have said that the possibility of foreign involvement in the bomb blast in Karachi’s Saddar area on Thursday night that left one person dead and 13 injured cannot be ruled out.
The bomb exploded near United Bakery in Saddar, in a crowded part of the area that was filled with eateries and restaurants. The deceased was identified as Umar Siddiqui, who worked at the Jinnah Hospital as a trainee operation theatre technician.
The blast injured 13 individuals, three of whom are teenagers, and damaged nearby property. A Coast Guard van that was parked near the bakery got completely destroyed.
Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mushtaq Ahmed Mahar tolf Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah that the blast happened due to an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) that had been attached to a bicycle.
The bomb weighed two and a half kilograms and was filled with ball bearings and locally made powerful explosives. This type of IED is commonly known as a bicycle bomb. “These types of bicycle bombs are used by banned nationalist organisations in Balochistan,” said the investigators.
Footage from a CCTV camera shows a young man placing and detonating the bomb.
Security agencies have added that the offender set the bomb off when he saw the Coast Guard van approaching. Immediately after, he fled from where he had been sitting behind a tea hotel.
“Investigation was being carried out from every possible angle,” said Sindh IGP Mahar.
Less than a month ago, Karachi fell victim to another terrorist attack when a suicide bomber from the banned terrorist organization Baloch Liberation Army killed four individuals, including three Chinese nationals and one Pakistani, outside Karachi University.
