Jundullah militants storm court in Karachi, two killed
Heavily armed gunmen on Saturday brazenly stormed a court in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi and freed four members of the banned Baloch group Jundullah after opening gunfire in which at least two people were killed.
Three attackers entered the city court complex, lobbing grenades and firing from their automatic weapons in which a constable was killed, Deputy Inspector General Iqbal Mehmood told reporters.
The incident which happened at 3:15 pm local time triggered panic in the area as shopkeepers downed the shutters and ran for their lives.
"The men emerged from the mosque inside the city court premises and attacked the police party who were escorting a the four activists of the banned outfit. They resorted to indiscriminate firing and also threw three hand grenades causing explosions as they escaped from the court," an eye witness said.
Later, a body of one of the suspected attackers was found near the court complex. His hands were blown off and the torso mutilated, witnesses said.
Initially, TV channels had said that 10 to 12 armed men were involved in the attack but later police clarified that the storming was carried out by three people.
After freeing the four Jundullah members who had been brought to the complex to be produced in court, the attackers fled to the nearby Jodia Bazar, where they exchanged fire with police.
Officials at the Civil Hospital said they had received four wounded persons. Doctors described the condition of two of them as critical.
Police surrounded Jodia Bazar, a congested market with numerous narrow lanes, and launched a search for the attackers.
The four Jundullah members Murtaza, Shakeeb Farooqi, Wazeer Muhammad and Murad Shah were arrested on suspicion of involvement in bomb attacks on Shia processions in Karachi in December last year.
Jundullah is claimed to be a group active in parts of Baloch dominated areas of Iran, bordering Pakistan.
Karachi has been by and large spared of the violence by Taliban militants that has rocked other Pakistani cities over the past few years.
Jundullah militants storm court in Karachi, two killed- Hindustan Times
---------- Post added at 09:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:26 PM ----------
Policeman killed as militants snatch four colleagues in Karachi
English.news.cn 2010-06-19 18:26:55
KARACHI, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Suspected militants attacked a police party in the Pakistani port city of Karachi with hand grenades and killed a policeman and snatched at least four colleagues, local police chief said.
Three other policemen were injured when the gunmen launched the attack near city's court.
Deputy Inspector General Police Sindh Iqbal Mehmood said the militants belonged to banned "Jundullah" group. They attacked the police party with hand grenades who were escorting the four militants back to prison.
He said the militants were produced in a local court in the morning and when they were being taken to the prison, a group of some 15 gunmen launched the attack to snatch them.
Police said an attacker was also killed as the police returned fire.
Mehmood said the gunmen succeeded to snatch four colleagues. Police said all the militants were brought from the central jail of Karachi.
Witnesses said that the gunmen had taken shelter in a mosque and suddenly appeared and attacked the policemen around 3:20 p.m.( 1120 GMT)
Ambulances were sent to the blast site and the injured were shifted to a nearby hospital. Meanwhile, heavy contingents of police were deployed around the city court.
Policeman killed as militants snatch four colleagues in Karachi