One person was killed and 12 injured in a bomb attack late Thursday in Karachi, Pakistan’s most populous city, which was claimed by a local separatist group, a police source said.
The attack, which took place around 11pm (6pm GMT) in Saddar district, was claimed by the Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army (SRA), which is fighting for the independence of southern Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital.
In a statement released on its Telegram channel, the SRA said it had detonated a “remotely operated bomb” targeting a coastguard vehicle and vowed to “continue its resistance until the Sindh’s full release”.
“Several” vehicles, including one belonging to the Coast Guard, were damaged in the blast, killing a “passerby,” said Sajjad Khan, a local police official.
“According to the initial findings of the investigation, the bomb was planted on a motorcycle that was parked next to a garbage can,” he explained.
The victims were still being treated for injuries caused by steel balls planted with the explosives to increase the damage at Jinnah Hospital as of Friday morning, hospital official Shahid Rasool said.
Nine of the injured were still being treated in hospital, according to the source, and three were allowed to go home.
The attack comes more than two weeks after a suicide bomber killed four people, including three Chinese teachers working for the Confucius Cultural Institute on the Karachi University campus.
Claims have been made by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a group fighting for the independence of this province, the largest and poorest in Pakistan, and which in the past has often targeted Chinese interests in the country.
Pakistan has faced a deteriorating security situation in recent months, particularly since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in mid-August.
After several years of relative calm, attacks resumed with renewed vigour, carried out by the Pakistani Taliban of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the regional branch of the Islamic State group (EI-K) or Baloch separatist groups.
Pakistan has accused the Taliban of allowing these groups to plan their attacks on Afghan soil, something Kabul has repeatedly denied.
This trend has been confirmed in recent weeks, with the number of attacks increasing by 24% between March and April, according to the PICSS institute in Islamabad.