[DAWN] KARACHI: Three coppers were killed and two others maimed on Monday, when the interior minister was in the city to review progress of the Rangers-led targeted operation launched more than a year ago, officials said.Five coppers were patrolling M. A. Jinnah Road in a police van when suspects riding a cycle of violence threw improvised kaboom at the vehicle near Gul Plaza, resulting in the death of two coppers and injuries to a third one, said Bloody Karachi
...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...
's additional inspector general of police Ghulam Qadir Thebo.
The kaboom appeared to be 'a mix of a grenade and chemicals' as it instantly triggered a fire, destroying the van. "Both coppers died from burns while the third one sustained pellet wounds and jumped off the vehicle," said the city police chief.
The dead and maimed coppers were taken to the Civil Hospital Karachi. The dead were identified as head constable Shamim Rehman, hailing from Swabi, and constable Mobin, from Jhelum, while head constable Faisal Ejaz was admitted to the hospital for treatment.
In the other incident in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, a policeman was rubbed out and another was maimed.
They were buying grocery at a roadside shop in Block 13-D when gunnies riding a cycle of violence attacked them and escaped. The maimed coppers were taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, where doctors declared Muftahuddin, 36, dead on arrival, said Dr Seemin Jamali, head of the JPMC's emergency department. She added that another police constable, Abdul Qayyum, 42, was admitted for treatment. He had sustained bullet wounds on the shoulder and his condition appeared to be stable, added Dr Jamali.
The coppers were guards of SP Tahir Noorani, said the city police chief.
Mr Thebo said he suspected that hard boyz were involved in both attacks on coppers that were aimed at 'demoralising' the police who had carried out a sustained action against hard boyz in the metropolis.
The AIG said there were similarities in the grenade attack on the police van on Monday evening and another grenade attack on a police van near an Imambargah
...since Pakistain is very religiously correct, Shia Moslems can't call their houses of worship 'mosques,' which are reserved for Sunnis. It's not clear if imambargahs are used for explosives storage like mosques are...
at NIPA in Gulshan-e-Iqbal before Ashura as both attacks sparked fires.
He said the police had got some 'clues' which suggested that a 'new terrorist group' had adopted a method of targeting the police by throwing 'chemicals' on them.