Police and rangers were on high alert on Tuesday after a suicide bomber killed 11 people in Karachi in a bid to derail key February elections.
The bombing coincided with a visit to Karachi by President Pervez Musharraf and officials said it was intended to sow fear ahead of February 18 polls, already delayed once by the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.
Benazir’s widower, Asif Ali Zardari, was also in the city but there was no suggestion either man was targeted.
“Police have been put on red alert and they will be assisted by Rangers (paramilitary forces) and security forces were conducting random spot-checks on commuters and vehicles at all entry and exit points to Karachi.An investigation team has been formed and it has started its work. ” – Karachi police chief Azhar Farooqi.
The blast ripped through a crowd outside a clothes factory on late Monday.
Bomb disposal squad officer Munir Ahmed said the device appeared to have been locally made and might have been fitted with a timer.
“The bomb was planted close to the petrol tank of a motorcycle and has left a crater at the blast site.” Munir Ahmed.
It was the first bombing in Karachi since a double suicide attack on a parade to welcome Benazir home from exile in October. Benazir survived that attack but 139 other people were killed.
Monday’s blast is already the third deadly bombing in Pakistan this year. The worst was a suicide attack in Lahore on Thursday that killed 22 policemen and three civilians.
In another incident on Monday, a crudely made bomb went off in the election office of Awami National Party (ANP) in Peshawar, wounding one person, police said.
Separately, a bomb exploded in an open area of the southwestern industrial town of Hub, which borders Karachi, but caused no damage or casualties, police said.