US strongly condemns Taliban terror attack on Karachi police office
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The US has strongly condemned the Taliban terrorist attack on the Karachi police office which left four people dead.
The US condemnation came after Karachi police spokesperson said all three terrorists who attacked the KPO had been killed in the operation on Friday night.
The police spokesman said that this was a “major operation” in which senior police officials had participated alongside the Army and the Rangers.
Taking to Twitter Saturday morning, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said “We stand firmly with the Pakistani people in the face of this terrorist attack. Violence is not the answer, and it must stop. My deepest condolences to the families of those injured and killed.”
The U.S. strongly condemns the terrorist attack on the Karachi Police Office. We stand firmly with the Pakistani people in the face of this terrorist attack. Violence is not the answer, and it must stop. My deepest condolences to the families of those injured and killed.
— Matthew Miller (@StateDeptSpox) February 18, 2023
At least four people were killed when a Pakistan Taliban suicide squad stormed the police compound in Karachi, with a gun battle raging for hours as security forces went floor-to-floor through an office building in pursuit of the assailants.
The attack comes just weeks after a bomb blast at a police mosque in the Peshawar killed more than 80 officers, and officials said late Friday that security would be stepped up in Islamabad.
The Pakistan Taliban said its fighters had stormed the tightly guarded Karachi Police Office compound, home to dozens of administrative and residential buildings as well as hundreds of officers and their families.
"Four people were killed in the attack, including two policemen, one ranger and one sanitary worker," Sindh government spokesman Murtaza Wahab Siddiqui told AFP, adding 14 others were wounded.
"The operation has concluded with the killing of all three terrorists," he said.
A spokesman for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility in a WhatsApp message to AFP. "Our Mujahideen martyrs have attacked Karachi Police Office. More details to follow," he said.
Speaking on a TV channel, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah called the attackers "terrorists... armed with grenades and other weapons" and said they fired at a gate with a rocket.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed Friday to stamp out the violence. "Pakistan will not only uproot terrorism, but will kill the terrorists by bringing them to justice," he tweeted. "This great nation is determined to end this evil forever."
کراچی میں پولیس پر دھشتگردی کے واقعے کی بھرپور مزمت کرتا ہوں اور اس حملے کو ناکام بنانے والے بہادر پولیس و قانون نافذ کرنے والے ادارے کے اہلکاروں کو سلام پیش کرتا ہوں۔ دھشتگرد شاید بھول گئے ہیں کہ پاکستانی وہ قوم ہے جس نے اپنی ہمت و جواں مردی سے دھشتگردی کو شکستِ فاش دی تھی.1/2
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) February 17, 2023
پاکستان نہ صرف دھشگردی کو جڑ سے اکھاڑ پھینکے گا بلکہ دھشتگردوں کو انکے کیفرِ کردار تک پہنچا کر دم لے گا۔ گزشتہ دو دہائیوں میں اس قوم نے اپنے لہو سے دھشتگردی کا ڈٹ کر مقابلہ کیا، یہ عظیم قوم آزمائش کی اس گھڑی میں بھی اس ناسور کو ہمیشہ کیلئے ختم کرنے کیلئے پرعزم ہے۔ 2/2 https://t.co/wFmINhhIpL
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) February 17, 2023