blast in Karachi suicide car bomb attack senior police official Defence Housing Authority DHA

Suicide boom blast in Karachi 19th September 2011 Suicide blast in Karachi targets SSP CID, 8 killed
KARACHI At least eight people were killed in a suicide car bomb attack targeting a senior police official in the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) area of Karachi on Monday.
The blast occurred outside the house of Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Crime Investigation Department (CID) Chaudhry Aslam. The house, nearby buildings and vehicles in the area were severely damaged after the blast.
Pakistan’s Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing, saying Aslam had arrested and killed many of its fighters.
“We will attack other police officials as well who are taking action against our people,” Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.
He went on to name five Karachi police officials on the Taliban hit list.
Aslam heads the counter-terrorism unit of the Crime Investigation Department in Karachi, investigating militant cells in the city.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) South Commander Shaukat said a double-cabin vehicle loaded with explosives had rammed into the gate of the house. He said the dead included six guards, a woman and a child.
Inspector General of Police (IG) Sindh Wajid Ali Durrani said that 300kg explosive material had been used in the attack.
Aslam, who survived the attack, told reporters that he had received threats from militant groups, including the al Qaeda-linked Pakistani Taliban.
“I was sleeping when they carried out this cowardly act and rammed a vehicle packed with explosives into my house,” Aslam told Reuters.
“I will not be cowed. I will teach a lesson to generations of militants.”
“I did not know that these terrorists were such cowards that they would attack sleeping children,” said Aslam speaking to the media.
Neighbouring houses and vehicles in the area were also damaged as a result of the blast.
“My daughter was preparing to go to school when all of a sudden the explosion occurred. My daughter started crying and I ran out of house to see what has happened,” Mohammad Imran, one of Aslam’s neighbours, told Reuters.
“I saw a cloud of smoke rising in the sky. Our children are traumatised. Our families are disturbed. There is no security.”
Nearby schools were also damaged and a guard posted at one of the schools said the children had been sent home.
Rangers and police cordoned off the area after the attack.
“We have received three dead bodies,” Seemi Jamal, a senior doctor at Jinnah hospital, told AFP.
Terrorists, in November 2010, had targeted the CID building, near PIDC, killing at least 16 people and injured more than 140.
A coordinated gun and car bomb suicide attack had been carried out in the back alleys of what is referred to as the highest security zone in the city – mere metres away from the Sindh Chief Minister House and in the backyard of the most heavily guarded installations in the city.