Karachi blast kills four security officers

At least four members of the Pakistani security forces have been killed and three others wounded in a bomb explosion near a paramilitary complex in the southern port city of Karachi.

The bomb detonated near the headquarters of the Rangers paramilitary forces in the Korangi area of the city late on Wednesday when the security officers were returning from duty.

“It was a bomb blast, the target seems to be a van carrying soldiers,” said police official Karim Khan.

Police forces have cordoned off the site of the explosion and the casualties have been taken to the Jinnah Hospital in the city.

“Seven soldiers were wounded, four of them embraced martyrdom,” a spokesman for the Rangers said.

“It was an attack on the Rangers’ pickup truck,” senior police officer Tahir Naveed confirmed.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast.

Thousands of Pakistanis have lost their lives in bombings and other militant attacks since October 2001, when Pakistan joined an alliance with the United States in its so-called war on terror.

Since late 2009, there has been a surge in militant attacks in Pakistan and thousands more have been displaced by the wave of violence and militancy sweeping across the country.