Security lapses at Karachi Police Office identified after attack

• Clearance operation completed at KPO.
• Investigations underway after attack on five-storey building.
• Police say militants had lethal weapon.

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KARACHI: Flaws have been identified in security arrangements at the Karachi Police Office (KPO) — a centrally located building on the city’s main artery — which came under a terrorist attack on Friday.

All three militants were killed and four people, including two policemen and a Sindh Rangers sub-inspector, embraced martyrdom in the nerve-racking operation that lasted for nearly four hours.

Banned outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed the responsibility for the attack.

Eighteen other people, including police and Rangers personnel, were also injured in the terror attack, which occurred after a deadly suicide attack at a Peshawar Civil Lines mosque that left 84 dead.

According to Geo News, there is no security gate to enter Police Lines Saddar where families of policemen are residing.

Sources said that terrorists allegedly entered KPO by climbing the rear wall and the three security checkposts at the city police chief’s office were not manned at the time of the attack.

"Barbed wire, on the rear wall of the KPO, was also cut," they said, adding there are no CCTV cameras installed to monitor the building from the Sharea Faisal side.

Police investigators have collected the evidence. The car in which the terrorists came is present at the Saddar police station.

The law enforcement agencies identified three terrorists involved in the KPO attack. Two of the terrorists belonged to North Waziristan while one of them belonged to Lakki Marwat.

Gunbattle with militants

A video of the police operation surfaced on TV in which police personnel are firing retaliatory shots toward the armed terrorists inside the KPO. In the video three police personnel can be seen without helmets standing on another side of the wall and responding carefully to the fires from the armed terrorists.

The personnel can also be seen communicating with each other and watching each other’s back. 

In the video, police personnel are referring to a room on the same floor where a terrorist may be hiding.

Details of ammunition

Per Geo News, two sub-machine guns (SMGs) were seized, but the serial number from one of them was erased. A Kalashnikov, with a red-coloured grip, was also recovered. Four hand grenades, with ejected pins, were also seized from the terrorists.

Another hand grenade was also seized from the militant who blew himself up, while two jackets, a high number of ball bearings, and edible items were also recovered.

All the items were later sent for forensics.

KPO cleared after militant attack

In an hours-long operation, police commandos and paramilitary soldiers cleared the Karachi Police Office of terrorists, who had stormed the building on Friday evening.

DIG East Muqadas Haider, DIG South Ifran Baloch, DIG Rapid Response Force (RRF) Nasir Aftab, Special Security Unit (SSU) and Sindh Rangers participated in the tense operation.

The Pakistan Army also assisted the law enforcers.

Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ghulam Nabi Memon, told The News that three terrorists had been killed in the operation. He claimed no advanced terror threat information to the KPO.

Following the attack, the IGP ordered extraordinary security measures at the police headquarters across Sindh. He also ordered expanding the intelligence network.

Officials said the terrorists reached the premises of the KPO situated near the FTC Building on Sharea Faisal in a white Corolla car around 7pm.

They approached the KPO from the Saddar Police Station. When police officials on duty asked the occupants to identify themselves, they opened fire and lobbed a grenade at the main gate of the KPO, forcing the policemen to take cover and retaliate.

Soon afterwards, commandos sprang into action to counter the terrorists, who had now entrenched themselves in the five-storeyed police installation.

They were soon joined by several officials from the East and South police regions and Ranges who cordoned off the area by blocking both tracks of the busy Sharea Faisal from the FTC to Regent Plaza. They also took positions at the Police Lines where the residential quarters of policemen are located. By that time, a fierce gun battle had already ensued.

As the attackers moved from one floor to the next at the KPO, the lights were switched off. A large contingent of police and special forces rushed inside the police complex.

The commandos continued the operation against the terrorists clearing the KPO floors from the mezzanine to the fourth floor.

As the terrorists rushed to the rooftop of the building after fleeing the emergent police action, the SSU snipers deployed on the nearby buildings and SSU commandos engaged them. Another batch of SSU commandos evacuated the injured personnel from the building during the firing.

'Terrorists were equipped with lethal weapons'

Talking to The News, DIG Muqadas Haider, who entered the KPO with cops, said they had killed two terrorists, besides the one killed by the Rangers troops. He added that two terrorists were killed on the rooftop, while one blew himself up on the 4th floor.

DIG Haider said terrorists were also carrying bags that contained food items and were equipped with lethal weapons, including AK-47 which showed they had a long-term plan but they never got the chance.

DIG South Irfan Baloch said the terrorists had attacked the complex from two to three sides. Police also rescued the trapped 40-50 police officials and staff, he said.

Towards the end, personnel of the Bomb Disposal Squad cleared the building by defusing suicide jackets that two of the killed terrorists were wearing.

Security heightened across Karachi

Officials said that after the incident, security had been beefed up at all police stations and other sensitive areas and buildings in Karachi.

A strict vigil has been ordered at the police stations across the city.