Four Parcel Bombs go off in Karachi, Pakistan - Injures 10

October 16, 2002

KARACHI, Pakistan, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- Four small parcel bombs exploded within minutes of each other in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi Wednesday, three of them in police stations, police said.

At least 10 people were injured in the blasts.

"The first bomb exploded in the crime investigation department of a police station. Another at a provincial government office and the third at a second police office," Karachi police chief Syed Kamal Shah said.

The fourth bomb exploded near the main office of the crimes investigation branch in Karachi, he said.

Shah said at least 10 people were injured in the blasts but none of them seriously.

Hundreds of police and paramilitary rangers have surrounded Karachi's Saddar area where all the four blasts occurred.

So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks but police said their crimes investigation branch was investigating cases against al Qaida suspects.

Pakistan's largest city, Karachi, is also its most violent where hundreds of people have been killed in sectarian and political violence during the past five years.

Pakistani and U.S. officials believe that a large number of al Qaida and Taliban fugitives are hiding in Karachi.

Last month, Pakistani police and FBI officials arrested a key al Qaida leader, Ramzi Binalshibh from the city.

At least one of the parcels had "From Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal" written on it, said Karachi's Home Secretary Mukhtar Ahmad Shaikh.

Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal stands for MMA or the United Action Forum, an alliance of six religious parties that emerged as a major political force in last week's parliamentary elections in Pakistan.

The alliance's unprecedented gain is attributed to the anti-American rhetoric the group used during the election campaign. It has a majority in the areas bordering Afghanistan, which was directly affected by the U.S.-led war on terror.

Shaikh said despite what's written on the parcel, he could not say who's responsible for the blasts. "This could also be a move to mislead investigators," he added.

Another police officer, Tariq Jamil, said all four bombs had similar messages written on them but did not explain what those messages were.
 
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