KARACHI, June 20: Two policemen were gunned dead in a SITE locality on Thursday, police officials said.

They said that Head Constables Aftab Ahmed and Mushtaq Ali were patrolling on a motorcycle on the Gulbai bridge when around six gunmen riding three motorcycles opened fire on them, wounding the policemen critically.

SHO of the SITE-B police station Sharif Meo said that one of the suspects was also wounded when the policemen returned fire.

The victims were taken to the Civil Hospital Karachi where doctors pronounced Aftab as dead on arrival while Mushtaq succumbed to his wounds during treatment.

The police officer said that the attack could be a result of the ongoing wave of targeted killings of policemen.

Speaking to Dawn, SITE SP Syed Ali Asif said that terrorists and criminals wanted to create an “insurgency-like situation” in Karachi and targeted the police. However, the police were taking concerted measures against criminals, he claimed.

He said that the deceased policemen had fired three shots at the attackers and one of them was hit the gunmen. The police were trying to locate the attackers.

Over 65 policemen have lost their lives in targeted attacks in different parts of the city this year. In 2012, about 100 policemen were killed.