KARACHI, 27 May 2004 — A policeman was killed and at least 30 people were wounded yesterday when two car bombs exploded outside the Pakistan-American Cultural Center in Karachi, Pakistan’s biggest city, officials and witnesses said.
The explosions, less than 15 minutes apart, took place about 100 meters from the residence of the US consul and some 200 meters from the US Consulate, scene of a car bomb attack by militants in 2002 that killed 12 Pakistanis.
Information Minister Sheikh Rashid said it was too early to say who was responsible for the bombings, but they could be connected to Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda militant network.
“Of course these are terrorists,” he said. Asked whether Al-Qaeda could be involved, he said: “It looks like so.” A US Embassy spokesman declined comment.
The blasts came two days after police in Karachi arrested six members of Harkatul Mujahedeen Al-Aalami, an Al-Qaeda-linked group that tried to assassinate President Pervez Musharraf two years ago.
Karachi has been the scene of frequent acts of militant violence since President Musharraf joined the US-led “war on terror” after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
A Reuters correspondent who arrived on the scene just before yesterday’s second blast, which caused the most casualties, said it left the car involved engulfed in flames and people bleeding from head, arm and leg wounds after being hit by debris. A wounded policeman died later in hospital.
Other wounded included 12 policemen, 12 journalists from local and foreign news organizations, an ambulance worker, three students from the cultural center and two soldiers, but none were in life-threatening condition.
Police evacuated the scene after the second blast, fearing other cars in the area could be booby-trapped. Reports of a third bomb explosion in the congested Gurumandar commercial district triggered some panic in the area but proved to be unfounded, police said.
“It is sheer terrorism, it looks like they have used locally made bombs,” Manzoor Mughal, a senior police official, told Reuters at the scene.
Asked if the latest attack could be related to the militants’ arrests, he said: “Yes, it could be a reaction, we have arrested so many of them.”
Karachi police chief Tariq Jamil said the blasts did not appear to have been caused by suicide bombers, unlike a sectarian attack earlier this month that killed 15 people and wounded 125 at a Karachi mosque.
Caps and guns of policemen, cameras and mobile telephone sets were scattered at the blood-spattered site of the blasts.
The roof of the car blew up and the bricks at the walkway near the exploded vehicle pulled off.
Army troops, police and journalists rushed soon after the first blast. While the security officials were examining the area and the press photographers were taking pictures, another explosive laden car parked about 10 meters away blew up with a huge bang, hardly 30 minutes later. A pall of thick smoke engulfed the area as the car caught fire. It triggered a panic. Many people screaming for help were lying on the ground with blood oozing out of their heads, and limbs.
Guns lay on the ground while cameras and mobile telephones and note books brought by journalists and press photographers were scattered amid the blood and glass shards.
While siren blaring ambulances were transporting the injured to the hospitals, police officers were seen shouting: “Go away, please leave the area. There is another suspicious car and a motorbike.”
Militants have been enraged by Musharraf’s crackdown on their organizations.
They have responded with repeated attacks aimed at undermining his government, targeting Western concerns, government officials and religious minorities. Musharraf appealed to Pakistan’s youth in a speech on Monday to shun the extremist forces warning that extremism threatened the country’s future.
