At least four people have been killed, including three Chinese nationals, after an explosion ripped through a van on a university campus in southern Pakistan, officials said.
The source of the blast at the University of Karachi was not immediately known, said university spokesman Mohammad Farooq. It was not immediately clear if the incident was the result of a planted device or a suicide attack.
Karachi police chief Ghulam Nabi Memon said security camera footage from the site showed a person dressed in the female burqa walking up to the van, followed by an instantaneous explosion.
The three dead Chinese included the director of the Chinese-built Confucius Institute, which offers Chinese language graduate classes, and two teachers. The fourth person to die was the Pakistani driver of the van, the officials said.
Muqaddas Haider, the deputy inspector general of police (DIG), said that the blast could have been a terrorist attack targeting Chinese nationals.
“The explosion took place at the van’s right side at the [institute’s] entrance. We are still establishing what type of explosion it was,” Mr Hailder was quoted by the Dawn newspaper as saying.
Local media reported that the Balochistan Liberation Army, a militant group in nearby Balochistan province, claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attack later on Tuesday afternoon, with the outfit’s spokesperson claiming that the attack was carried out by their first female suicide bomber.
The group is notorious for targeting Chinese nationals and had ramped up attacks during former prime minister Imran Khan’s tenure.
Sindh chief minister Murad Ali Shah said he had directed senior officials to reach the site of the incident and move the injured to the Dow University Hospital in a bid to prevent further casualties.
Source: Websites
