...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
, DawnNews reported.
The Pak Talibs targeted a corner meeting of Awami National Party (ANP) near Mominabad Police Station in Karachi's SITE area. The meeting was being attended, among others, by a local leader of ANP, Bashir Jan.
Jan, however, escaped the attack unhurt.
SSP Karachi West Asif Ijaz, while talking to Dawn.Com, has confirmed the number of dead and injured. He said the bomb was a planted device with at leat four kilograms of kaboom. Ball bearings and nuts and bolts, apparently used in the bomb, were also found from the site of the blast, he added.
The blast was heard several kilometres away and damaged nearby shops and houses, witnesses said.
Talking to a private news channel, ANP chief Asfandyar Wali condemned the cowardly act of the Orcs and similar vermin and vowed to not bow down to them.
"People know who is behind these barbaric acts....they want to keep us away from elections," he said. However,
a good lie finds more believers than a bad truth...
the ANP chief said that his party will not boycott the May 11 polls.
Taliban claim
Meanwhile,
...back at the comedy club, Boogie was cracking himself up, but nobody else seemed to be getting the non-stop jokes...
the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) has grabbed credit of the attack.
Speaking to Dawn.com via telephone from
"These secular parties want to bring the system of the infidel in Pakistain," said the Taliban front man, speaking about the MQM, ANP and PPP.
Speaking to Dawn, Additional IG Karachi Iqbal Mehmood said political parties were required to inform police authorities 72 hours in advance of holding rallies or public meetings.
According to rules set down by the the Election Commission, parties should inform police of routes and other details ahead of holding public meetings to ensure their safety, Mehmood said.
Day of mourning
The ANP has announced to observe a day of mourning in the city. Transport, businesses and educational institutions however will remain open on Saturday, said the party's chief of Sindh province, Shahi Syed.
Karachi, Pakistain's commercial capital, has witnessed a recent surge in violence.
The Pak Taliban had also grabbed credit for an attack on Thursday on the election office of the MQM in Karachi, the second attack on the party in the city in three days.
Earlier in the day, an ANP's National Assembly candidate from Karachi's Landhi area came under a cracker kaboom in Karachi whereas a convoy of Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam
...Assembly of Islamic Clergy, or JUI, is a Pak Deobandi (Hanafi) political party. There are two main branches, one led by Maulana Fazlur Rahman, and one led by Maulana Samiul Haq. Fazl is active in Pak politix and Sami spends more time running his madrassah. Both branches sponsor branches of the Taliban, though with plausible deniability...
-Fazl (JUI-F) candidate Hashim Shahwani came under gunfire attack in Mach area of Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
's Bolan district.
The spike in violence targeting political parties has raised concerns for law and order as the May 11 general elections draw closer.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistain also expressed its concerns at the continuing terrorist attacks on election candidates, activists and campaigns of certain political parties.
"If this targeted violence persists, it would render the elections meaningless and make the country hostage to fascist forces," the rights watchdog said in a statement released Friday.