KARACHI (PAKISTAN) – Four gunmen attacked the Pakistani Stock Exchange building in the port city of Karachi on Monday but security forces killed them all, said the police.
According to the military, two others were also killed. The security forces combed the premises for any remaining attackers.
The gunmen stormed the building, which is in a high security zone that also houses the head offices of many private banks, with grenades and guns, said Ghulam Nabi Memon, chief of police in Pakistan’s biggest city and its financial hub.
“Four attackers have been killed. They had come in a silver Corolla car,” Memon told Reuters.
No outfit has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The attackers initially threw a grenade at security men posted outside the stock exchange building and then opened fire on a security post. The four were killed when security forces responded.
Pakistan has long been plagued by Islamist militant violence but attacks have become less frequent in recent years following military operations against various factions in strongholds along the border with Afghanistan.
The Pakistan Stock Exchange did not suspend trading during the attack, its managing director, Furrukh Khan, said.
According to a Counter-Terrorism Department official, the gunmen carried significant quantities of ammunition and grenades in backpacks.
Apart from Islamist militants, Pakistan has also had to deal with separatist insurgents in Balochistan and Sindh provinces.
Separatists were responsible for an attack on the Chinese consulate in Karachi in 2018.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field