Three killed in Karachi terror attack

Unidentified terrorists killed three people inside Macedonia's Consulate in the restive port city of Karachi overnight and then blew up its building with powerful explosives, burying bodies in the rubble, police officials said yesterday.

The powerful blast occurred at around 1am local time, devastating the entire building located in the affluent Defence Housing Society neighbourhood and causing panic in the entire locality, they said.

One of the victims, identified as Hameed, was a security guard. The other two bodies, one a middle-aged woman, remained unidentified, Sindh Police Chief, Syed Kamal Shah, told reporters.

All the three victims were killed with knives before the explosion, police and doctors said.

"Hameed had stab wounds to his neck," Police Inspector Rao Zaheer said.

Doctors at Karachi's Jinnah Medical Centre who performed autopsies on the victims said their hands and legs were tied, their mouths gagged and their throats slit. The weapon used was still in the body of one of the victims, the doctors said.

No Macedonian citizen was employed at the consulate, which was shut at the time of explosion.

A Pakistani businessman, Bilal Ahmed Qureshi, the brother of former caretaker prime minister Moeen Qureshi served as honorary consul. He was not in the building at the time of the blast.

The police pulled the bodies out of the rubble several hours after the explosion, which had completely destroyed most parts of the building, smashing walls and blowing up the roof. A crane was at the scene lifting debris as rescue workers and police searched the rubble for clues. No group has claimed responsibility for the explosion, which is being described by the authorities as an act of terrorism.

"This is an act of terrorism," Qureshi, Macedonia's honorary consul, told reporters. "I do not have enmity with any one."

Scribbled on a wall in blue ink were the words 'Al Qaida Pakistan, result of adultery' and a couplet titled 'Message for Infidels' that said: 'Loyalty will be returned in loyalty. Oppression in oppression. We are men like you. We will do what you will do.' The messages were written in Pakistan's Urdu language.

Zaheer, the police inspector, said that the bomb disposal squad officials have been investigating to determine the nature of explosives used in the blast, which "surprisingly did no damage to the nearby buildings."

Police threw a security ring around the consulate and have started massive investigations. But so far no arrests have been made.

The blast came just a day before the festival of Eid Al Fitr.

Pakistani officials said the authorities are investigating the possibility on whether it was a attack to avenge the killing of six Pakistanis and one Indian, who were shot and killed by Macedonian authorities in March in what they described as pre-emptive raid on terrorists.

The bodies of six Pakistanis were returned to Pakistan in September, according to a Karachi-based human rights activist.

A senior police official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said investigators do not rule out the possible involvement of extremist groups, which have carried out a series of such attacks in recent months, especially targeting the Westerners, in an attempt to undermine the government's efforts in war against terrorism.

Yesterday's explosion woke up sleeping residents, shattered windows and sent frightened neighbors running into the street.

"I was sleeping. It was a huge explosion. I jumped the fence to escape. I didn't know what had happened," said Alladida, a household worker in a neighbouring home.

There were two massive car bombings in May and June in Karachi. The first one outside a hotel killed 11 French technicians, while the other outside the U.S. Consulate 12 Pakistanis. Also there were attacks on religious minorities and government officials, making Karachi as one of the most risky place for the Westerners and religious minorities. Security in the entire Sindh province has been beefed up following the explosion.