Pakistani security forces killed three terrorists and captured another alive after foiling a brazen attack by militants on a Sindh Rangers compound in Karachi on Saturday night. The attack left three paramilitary personnel dead and marked the city's first major terrorist strike since October 2024.
News agency PTI, citing a reliable security source, reported that the attackers, belonging to Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a militant faction of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), stormed the Sindh Rangers' Bhittai Wing headquarters in Karachi's densely populated Gulistan-e-Jauhar area around 8.30 pm.
3 terrorists killed
The nearly 90-minute gun battle ended after Special Security Unit (SSU) commandos and the Anti-Terrorist Force (ATF) joined Rangers personnel in eliminating three terrorists and capturing one injured attacker.
Initially, it was reported that at least four Rangers soldiers were killed in the assault. Later, Dawn, citing Sindh Inspector General Javed Alam Odho, reported three soldiers were killed.
Authorities immediately sealed off the compound and surrounding roads as heavy exchanges of gunfire continued. Residents were asked to remain indoors, while some nearby neighbourhoods experienced power outages during the operation.
Saturday's attack was claimed by Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a militant faction of the TTP that has largely operated in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, carrying out attacks on civilians, security personnel and government officials. The assault is the first terrorist attack in Karachi since October 2024, when two Chinese engineers were killed in a suicide bombing near Karachi airport, claimed by the banned Balochistan Liberation Army.
Biggest attack since 2023
The last major TTP attack in Karachi took place in February 2023, when militants stormed the Karachi Police Office on Shahrah-e-Faisal, resulting in multiple casualties.
According to initial investigations, the attackers rammed a vehicle through the main gate of the Rangers compound before entering the premises and hurling hand grenades, triggering multiple explosions.
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"More details are being collected, but initial investigations confirm the terrorists arrived in a vehicle and entered the compound by ramming the main gate. The Rangers personnel responded rapidly," Odho said. He said an explosion was heard when the attack began, although it was not immediately clear what caused it. "What is confirmed is that as soon as the attack took place, the Rangers personnel immediately took positions and engaged the attackers in a gun battle," he added.
The attack comes amid heightened tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Since late last year, Pakistan's military and intelligence agencies have repeatedly accused Afghanistan's Taliban government of providing a safe haven to the TTP, enabling the group to launch cross-border attacks. Pakistan's military has, in turn, carried out several strikes on what it says are TTP hideouts and training centres inside Afghanistan.
(With inputs from agency)