Being targeted: Party worker succumbs to injuries from grenade attack

A dozen among the 31 wounded in Friday night's attack are still being treated at the hospital


Our Correspondent November 23, 2014

KARACHI: A 55-year-old worker of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) succumbed to his injuries on Saturday afternoon, a day after a grenade attack on the party's camp in Orangi Town.

Abdul Jabbar, who worked with the party's Orangi sector - Unit 118, was a member of the elderly wing. According to the party, he passed away at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital around 2pm. The funeral prayers were offered in Zia Colony on Saturday evening.



Along with office bearers and party workers, three MPAs of the MQM - Muhammad Hussain, Shaikh Abdullah and Saifuddin Khalid -  were also injured when unidentified assailants hurled a Russian-made hand grenade at the camp set up for the MQM's membership drive in Orangi Town on Friday evening.

According to the doctors at the hospital, 31 people were injured and taken to the hospital for treatment. Around a dozen are still admitted while the remaining were discharged after receiving first aid.

Ehsanullah Ehsan, the spokesperson for the Jamatul Ahrar faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, said that they were responsible for the attack. He added that this was revenge for the arrest and killing of Taliban members in Karachi. "We will keep on targeting the MQM, Awami National Party and Pakistan Peoples Party in Karachi," he told a news agency via telephone from an undisclosed location.



Party leader Wasay Jalil said that around 37 people were injured in the grenade attack. While responding to a question about the Taliban claiming responsibility, Jalil said that the federal and Sindh governments should take immediate action against the militants and their hideouts in Karachi. "For years, we have been raising our voices against them," he said. "We will continue to do so. They are a menace to society."

Police report

The police have registered an FIR No. 235/14 under Sections 3 and 4 of the Explosives Act and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act against unidentified persons on behalf of the party's elderly wing member, Ali Ahmed.

The police have also conducted several raids in parts of Orangi Town to arrest suspects involved in the attack. So far, they have been unsuccessful. Police officials said that the attack could have been worse if the grenade had fallen and exploded inside the camp.

"The assailants threw a hand grenade from a park behind the camp," explained SHO Tanvir Murad while talking to The Express Tribune. He said that two groups of militants have claimed responsibility for the attack. "The attack was definitely carried out by a militant outfit but we have yet to ascertain which group was actually involved," he said. "Maybe it was a joint venture of different banned militant outfits." The officer added that a case had been registered while further investigation was under way.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 23rd, 2014.

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