KARACHI: Two military personnel were killed in an attack here on Tuesday.

Two masked men on a motorbike targeted a military police jeep on M. A. Jinnah Road, one of the city’s busiest roads, at around 3.10pm, sowing fear and panic in the neighbourhood.

It was the second such assault on security forces in two weeks during a sudden surge in incidents of targeted attacks.

Masked men on a motorbike attack a military police jeep on M.A. Jinnah Road

It set alarm bells ringing in the security and political administration as Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah called Corps Commander, Karachi, Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar, to convene a meeting on Wednesday to discuss progress on implementation of the National Action Plan.

According to ISPR, Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif paid tribute to the slain soldiers and said the attack was aimed at undermining operations against the militants.

“Such terrorist attacks... cannot shake our national resolve to root out terrorism from our soil once and for all,” he was quoted as saying in a statement.

“The COAS instructed intelligence and security agencies to go to any length to apprehend the perpetrators (of this attack),” the statement said.

Police were not sure immediately about the group or people behind the incident but they believed it was a planned attack in reaction to the ongoing “targeted operation” in the city.

“Two military police personnel came to Hashoo Centre on main M. A. Jinnah Road in uniform and official jeep,” said DIG South Dr Jamil Ahmed.

“The (MP) jeep was parked along the main road and the officials were about to leave the place when armed men emerged there, fired multiple shots at them and sped away towards Radio Pakistan.”

According to witnesses, the firing sparked panic and fear in the crowded area with no-one having immediate idea about the exact direction and the target of firing.

After the guns fell silent the two soldiers were found lying in a pool of blood inside their jeep. They were taken to the nearby Civil Hospital where one of them was pronounced dead. The other died a few minutes later.

“Both were hit in the head from a very close range,” said Dr Nisar Shah, the medico-legal officer at the hospital.

He prepared an initial report before the bodies were moved to PNS Shifa. “One soldier was brought dead while the other survived for a few minutes. They died because of heavy loss of blood.”

The victims were identified as 45-year-old Lance Naek Mohammad Rashid from Mansehra and 40-year-old Havaldar Arshad Rahman, who belonged to Hazara and lived in the Drigh Road area of Karachi.

In a brief statement, the Inter-Services Public Relations called the attack a “terrorist act” targeting military police soldiers who were in “an MP jeep”.

As Karachi has been put on “high alert” ahead of Chehlum of Imam Hussain and local bodies’ elections due this week, the attack has emerged as a fresh challenge for the security administration and the provincial government.

On Nov 20, four Rangers officials were killed in an attack on their checkpost in Baldia Town. More than 75 policemen have fallen prey to targeted attacks in the city this year.

Just a day after the Director General of Pakistan Rangers, Sindh, Major General Bilal Akbar, presided over a meeting to review security plan for the Dec 3 Chehlum procession and local bodies’ election on Dec 5, the armed men have again challenged the writ of the state.

Initial findings about the fresh attack suggest that law-enforcement and security agencies are yet to reach close to their target of restoring peace in Karachi.

“Two pistols were used in the attack on military police soldiers,” said a senior police official.

The forensic examination of five spent bullet cases found at the crime scene showed that one of the pistols had been used in attacks on Rangers officials in Baldia Town, two policemen in Mominabad, a doctor in Pirabad, two policemen each in Madina Colony and Ittehad Town, a doctor in Saeedabad and a young man in Orangi Town. The other pistol was used in the killing a doctor in Ittehad Town and another in Mominabad.”

According to police authorities, the recent surge in attacks on security personnel showed desperation of criminals and terrorists who have found themselves trapped after the targeted operation had been intensified.

“The space for criminals and terrorists to operate has been considerably constrained,” said Karachi police chief Mushtaq Ali Maher. “We are moving fast in the right direction. The fresh attack is a reaction of efforts of Rangers and police for bringing peace to the city. We are determined to do our job without being deterred by such cowardly acts.”

President Mamnoon Hussain, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad condemned the attack and expressed grief over the loss of the two military personnel.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari called the corps commander and said his party stood by the soldiers fighting terrorists.

Published in Dawn, December 2nd, 2015