கராச்சி பட்டாணி பகுதிகளில் தொடர் குண்டுகள் வெடித்ததில் 43 பேர் படுகாயம் பலர் மரணம்

கராச்சி பட்டாணி பகுதிகளில் தொடர் குண்டுகள் வெடித்ததில் 43 பேர் படுகாயம் பலர் மரணம்

37 Wounded by Series of Blasts in Pakistan
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By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: July 8, 2008
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — A string of small explosions, apparently from bombs, wounded at least 37 people on Monday in Karachi, rattling Pakistan a day after a deadly suicide attack in Islamabad, the capital, officials said.

The six explosions occurred over the span of about an hour, striking residential and commercial spots in Karachi, a teeming southern port city, where political and militant-related violence is common.

Television showed ambulances rushing through the city’s crowded streets and victims lying in hospital beds with bloody bandages.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, just as there has not been for the suicide bombing on Sunday in Islamabad, which left at least 18 people dead, most of them police officers.

In Karachi, Liaqat Memon, an official at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, said 37 people, including 8 children, had been hurt. One adult was in critical condition, he said.

Babar Khattak, the police chief of Sindh Province, said it appeared that about five to seven ounces of explosives had been used in each of the six blasts, only enough to create a relatively small explosion.

Five men were detained in connection with the explosions, he said.

“It seems the series of blasts was carried out to create harassment and fear among the citizens,” Mr. Khattak said.

Noting that the areas struck had large Pashtun populations, he said the explosions may have been aimed at creating ethnic unrest.

Two of the blasts apparently came from bombs planted in a taxi stand and a pickup truck full of scrap, according to Wasim Ahmed, Karachi’s police chief.

In October, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto narrowly escaped a suicide attack in Karachi that killed more than 140 people at a rally with tens of thousands of supporters who were welcoming her home from exile.

Ms. Bhutto was killed in December in Rawalpindi.


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