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  • Traffic policeman killed, another injured in Karachi

    Self-defense: In this picture a traffic police official wears a bulletproof jacket to protect himself Self-defense: In this picture a traffic police official wears a bulletproof jacket to protect himself

    Hours after at least nine policemen were killed in Lahore on Monday, a traffic policeman was killed and another injured in Karachi. Unknown assailants had targeted two traffic policemen, Constable Kamran and Constable M. Khan, at Abul Hasan Ispahani Road while they were busy regulating traffic.

    Gadap SP Chaudhry Saifullah confirmed the incident, stating that both traffic wardens had been attacked near the Paradise Bakery. Both were shifted to a nearby hospital, where one of them was pronounced dead on arrival, he added. Media reports stated that the victims were shifted to the hospital on a rickshaw.

    Malir SSP Rao Anwar said two men on a motorcycle carried out the attack. He said that the slain warden, Constable M. Khan, had received a bullet injury on his head, whereas the injured, Constable Kamran had received bullet wounds on his chest.

    It later emerged that the attackers had made off with Constable Kamran's arms, an MP5 gun. The SHO Gulshan-i-Iqbal said the attackers were later intercepted near the Sherpao CNG station by patrolling policemen, but they opened fire before escaping. A policeman, Zubair Baloch, narrowly escaped serious injury, with a bullet grazing his head but otherwise leaving him unharmed.

    The attack occurred three days after three police personnel and a 12-year-old boy were killed near Korangi's Darul Uloom by six unidentified individuals, who had opened fire on a parked police van.

    Initial investigations revealed that the victims of Friday's attack had sustained bullet wounds on their faces, head and chest. The policemen were targeted from a distance of between seven and 10 feet.

    Following the attack, Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) A.D. Khawaja had issued new guidelines for the force across the city. He had directed the policemen to follow standard operating measures (SOPs) during routine businesses.

    Besides this, he also imposed a fresh set of measures, including regular firing exercises, deployment of young policemen at public places and replacement of old fleet of vehicles with new ones.

    The Deputy IGP Karachi, Ghulam Qadir Thebo, had said that the policemen did not follow SOPs meant to prevent such attacks.