The Taliban Kill 18 In Suicide Assault On Police Headquarters In Karachi

From The Long War Journal:


Taliban kill 18 in suicide assault on police headquarters in Karachi

By Bill RoggioNovember 11, 2010





The Taliban took credit for a deadly suicide assault on a police headquarters in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi today. Eighteen people were killed in the attack and more than 100 were wounded.



A Taliban assault team attacked the Crime Investigation Department headquarters in a secured area of Karachi. Taliban fighters armed with assault rifles attacked the building and battled with police before a massive truck bomb was detonated inside the CID compound. The truck bomb, which is estimated to have carried more than 2,000 pounds of explosives, destroyed the building.



Police have confirmed that 18 people have been killed and 115 have been wounded. The death toll may rise as others may be trapped in the rubble of the building.



In a telephone call to news organizations, Azam Tariq, spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, said: "We will continue such attacks as long as military operations continue against us."



While the specific reasons for today's attack in Karachi attack are not known, the Taliban may have been trying to free a senior commander, a local Taliban leader, and several allied Lashkar-e-Jhangvi fighters who are thought to have been in custody at the CID building. On Nov. 3, police arrested a Taliban commander named Yousuf, who is also known as Qari. Yousuf was described as "a senior member of the TTP [Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan] and was in contact with the top leadership of the banned outfit." He is said to have planned a suicide attack on a police training center in Mingora earlier this year, and is thought to have been plotting to carry out attacks in Karachi.



Also, yesterday, police arrested six Lashkar-e-Jhangvi fighters from the Asif Ramzi group and a Taliban commander known as Iqbal. The Taliban leader is said to be a "a close aide" to Faqir Mohammad, the Taliban's leader in the tribal agency of Bajaur. All seven terrorists were being interrogated by the CID in Karachi.



Pakistani military and police forces have been a major target of the Taliban over the past several years. The Taliban have conducted numerous attacks against heavily secured military, police, and intelligence compounds, as well as against other secured targets housing foreigners in Pakistan’s major cities. The most brazen was the assault on the Pakistani Army General Headquarters complex in the garrison city of Rawalpindi in October 2009.



The Taliban have been targeting the counterterrorism sections of the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency, the Pakistani Central Intelligence Agency, and the Federal Investigation Agency. The ISI counterterrorism branch is responsible for targeting the Taliban and is supported by the US. The Taliban destroyed an ISI counterterrorism section building in Peshawar on Nov. 13, 2009, as well as the Pakistani Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Lahore on Oct. 16, 2009. Also, on March 8, 2010, a suicide bomber rammed his car packed with explosives into a Federal Investigation Agency building in Lahore, killing 11 people. Four days later, on March 12, a pair of suicide bombers attacked Pakistani Army vehicles at a bazaar in a military cantonment in Lahore, killing more than 50 people.



Pakistani security forces have targeted the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan and allied groups such as the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi as they have conducted attacks against the Pakistani state. But Pakistani security forces refuse to move against Taliban groups such as the Haqqani Network as well as terror groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, despite the fact that the latter groups provide aid and shelter to the former.



Sources:



• 18 dead, 115 wounded in Karachi blast, Geo News

• Bomb blast at CID building, at least 15 killed, Dawn

• Senior TTP member arrested in Karachi, Dawn

• CID arrests six LeJ militants, Daily Times

• Pakistani Taliban claims responsibility for Karachi attack, The Telegraph















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