7 killed in blast near a police officer's home in Karachi

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At least seven persons were killed and several others wounded today when a suspected car bomb went off outside the residence of a senior police officer in the port city of Karachi in southern Pakistan.

The blast, which went off at 7.30 am, targeted the home of Special Superintendent of Police Chaudhry Aslam of Crime Investigation Department in the posh Defence area.

Seven persons were killed by the powerful blast, Geo News channel quoted police officials as saying. Aslam, who escaped unhurt, told the media that several of his police guards were among the dead.

He said he had received threats from the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan but pledged that he would be deterred by such cowardly attacks. The officer and his family were shifted to an undisclosed location. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

The blast, which was heard from several kilometres away, damaged several nearby houses and cars parked in the area. The explosion caused a six-foot deep crater. Debris from the officer's home was hurled over a large distance.
Footage on television showed the wall and facade of the police officer's two-storey building were destroyed by the blast.

A plume of smoke was seen rising into the sky. Several schools and educational institutions are located near the officer's home and the blast was followed by a traffic snarl as parents rushed to the area to pick up their children.

The dead and injured were taken to the nearby Jinnah Hospital. Karachi has witnessed several high-profile terrorist attacks, including one in May on the Mehran naval airbase that killed 10 security personnel.