Bomb attack kills three paramilitary soldiers in Karachi

Pakistani paramilitary soldiers inspect a damaged vehicle following a roadside bomb blast in Karachi on December 9, 2011. - AFP Photo

KARACHI: A bomb attack killed three paramilitary soldiers and wounded four others on Friday in Karachi.

A roadside bomb exploded alongside a vehicle carrying members of the Rangers paramilitary force in the eastern part of the city after daybreak, officials said.

“Three troops from Pakistan Rangers were killed and four were hurt. It was a remote control bomb,” Sharfuddin Memon, a spokesman for the home ministry Sindh, told AFP.

Friday’s attack was not immediately claimed by any group.

Memon said the bomb that exploded Friday was buried on the roadside and the force of the explosion badly damaged the vehicle.

“Seven personnel of Pakistan Rangers were taken to hospital, where four of them died,” he added.

Mohammad Salim, an office boy in a nearby government office, said he saw the troops lying on the ground with the vehicle in flames.

“It was a loud explosion. I was going to the office and I rushed to the spot where the rangers were lying on the ground. They were bleeding,” he told AFP.

Friday’s attack was the deadliest in Karachi since a car bomb killed eight people, including six police officers, on September 19.