3 security personnel martyred as attack on Rangers facility in Karachi ‘foiled’: ISPR

Three personnel were martyred during a fire exchange after a terrorist attack last night on a Rangers facility in Karachi was “decisively foiled”, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Sunday.

The attack on the Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) Camp, located in Gulistan-i-Jauhar, was carried out by terrorists “belonging to Indian proxy, Jamaat ul Ahrar”, the ISPR said in a statement.

The military’s media affairs wing added: “The assailants, after a blast at [the] main gate of the Camp, attempted to breach the perimeter security.

“However, their nefarious designs were decisively foiled by the vigilant and resolute response of Rangers troops, eliminating three kharijis and capturing one khariji, who is an Afghan national, in injured condition.”

The Pakistani government uses the term khariji (outcast) when referring to the perpetrators of terrorist attacks on Pakistan.

The ISPR further said that during the fire exchange, “three brave sons of soil, rendered the ultimate sacrifice and embraced martyrdom in the line of duty, while four soldiers are injured”.

The military asserted that “Pakistan shall undertake retribution operations against the perpetrators of this attack to avenge the martyrdom of its soldiers”.

Sanitisation operations were being conducted to eliminate any other “Indian-sponsored” terrorists in the area, ISPR said.

It affirmed that the “relentless counterterrorism campaign under vision ‘Azm-i-Istehkam’ by security forces and law enforcement agencies of Pakistan will continue at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country”.

Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir expressed his “deepest condolences with the families of the brave soldiers”. “These sacrifices further reinforce our unwavering commitment to safeguarding our nation at all costs,” the statement said.

‘Heavy firing’

Residents of Karachi’s Gulistan-i-Jauhar reported hearing the sounds of an explosion and gunfire at around 8pm.

Special units, law enforcers and rescue personnel were dispatched to the site, and the area was cordoned off by police and paramilitary personnel.

Initial reports indicate that the attackers used a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VB-IED) to ram into the main gate of the local Rangers headquarters in Gulistan-i-Jauhar’s Block 5, triggering a powerful explosion. In the immediate aftermath of the blast, the terrorists stormed the compound and opened indiscriminate fire.

Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Javed Alam Odho confirmed to Dawn that a fierce exchange of gunfire ensued after the vehicle breached the gate.

The powerful blast and subsequent heavy gunfire forced residents and bystanders to scramble for safety. Law enforcement and emergency rescue services rushed to the scene, while multiple arterial roads leading from Mosamiyat to the Rangers camp were closed to vehicular traffic as a security operation continued late into the night.

Following the incident, the police chief said the area had been cordoned off by a heavy contingent of police and Rangers commandos, with a “mopping operation” underway.

Sindh CM takes notice

Shortly after firing near Mosamiyat Chowrangi was reported, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah took notice of the reports and sought a detailed report of the incident, according to his spokesperson.

The chief minister contacted the Sindh IG and the Karachi additional inspector general (AIG), directing them to ensure that police immediately reached the site and took necessary action to ascertain the nature of the incident.

Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar also took notice of the incident and sought a detailed report from the AIG. He directed that all details of the incident be submitted as soon as possible, according to the Home Department.

The last major terrorist attack in the metropolis was a bombing near Karachi airport on October 6, 2024, which left one person dead and 11 others injured, including foreign nationals.

The attack was claimed by the banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA). Police registered an FIR against leaders of the BLA and others three days after the incident.

In November 2024, the Sindh home minister confirmed the arrest of two suspects involved in the Karachi airport attack that targeted Chinese officials.

In the last major terrorist attack on a security installation in Karachi, police and military personnel responded to an attack on the Karachi Police Office on Sharea Faisal in February 2023.

An hours-long gun battle between terrorists and security forces — comprising Pakistan Army Special Service Group (SSG), Sindh Rangers and Sindh Police — left four people martyred and 19 injured. All three terrorists belonging to the banned militant group Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) were killed.

After two consecutive months of improvement, Pakistan’s security situation deteriorated sharply in May, driven primarily by escalating terrorist violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, according to the monthly security assessment released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS).

According to the report, the country witnessed 128 terrorist attacks during May, compared to 101 attacks in April, representing a 27 per cent increase. The rise reversed the downward trend observed during the previous two months and underscored the persistent security challenges confronting conflict-affected regions of the country.