KARACHI: At least four people, including two policemen, were killed when a Pakistan Taliban suicide squad stormed a police compound Friday in the port city of Karachi, with a gun battle that raged for hours as security forces went floor-to-floor through an office building in pursuit of the assailants.
"Four people were killed in the attack, including two policemen, one ranger, and one sanitary worker," Sindh government spokesman Murtaza Wahab Siddiqui told AFP, adding 14 others were wounded.
At least three militants blew themselves, while two were gunned down in the shootout, officials confirmed, as they swept the office situated on the main artery of Sharea Faisal, Geo News reported.
According to the report, the attack started at 7.10 pm and ended at around 10.46 pm.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Karachi police said that all three terrorists who attacked the KPO (Karachi Police Office) had been killed in the operation. The spokesperson said that this was a “major operation” in which senior police officials, including the South and East DIGs, had participated alongside the Rangers and the army, Dawn reported.
"The operation has concluded with the killing of all three terrorists," he said.
A spokesman for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility in a WhatsApp message to AFP.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed Friday to stamp out the violence.
"Pakistan will not only uproot terrorism, but will kill the terrorists by bringing them to justice," he tweeted.
"This great nation is determined to end this evil forever."
'General threat'
Earlier, Syed Murad Ali Shah, chief minister of Sindh province, told ARY news that security forces had focused on one main building seized by the attackers.
"It is a five-floor building. Our police and rangers have cleared the first three floors and approaching the fourth. The terrorists are still inside the building."
An AFP reporter near the scene saw dozens of ambulances and security vehicles arrive outside the compound.
Karachi is Pakistan's largest city, a sprawling metropolis of over 20 million people and the main trade gateway at its Arabian Sea port.
Low-level militancy, often targeting security checkpoints in the north and west, has been steadily rising since the Taliban seized control in neighbouring Afghanistan in August 2021.
The assaults are claimed mostly by the Pakistan Taliban, as well as the local chapter of the Islamic State, but separatists from Balochistan have struck over the years in Karachi, capital of the southern Sindh province.
Investigators blamed an affiliate of the Pakistan Taliban for the January blast at a mosque inside a police compound in Peshawar that killed more than 80 officers.
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan share a common lineage and ideals with the Afghan Taliban.
Provinces around the country announced they were on high alert after the mosque attack, with checkpoints ramped up and extra security forces deployed.
"There's a general threat across the country but there was no specific threat to this place," Interior Minister Sanaullah said of Friday's Karachi attack.
(With inputs from Online Desk)