18 killed in Karachi blast

Karachi : A car bomb explosion in a police building in Pakistan’s Karachi city on Thursday night killed 18 and injured more than a hundred, Pakistan media said.

Pakistan’s Geo TV put the toll at 18 while other media said 10 people were killed.

The powerful blast ripped through the Central Investigation Department (CID) building near the house of Sindh Chief Minister House badly damaged the building located in a high security area.

Sources said it was a suicide attack, one of the many carried out by the terrorists with al Qaida links across Pakistan.

A US consulate and some important hotels are located in the area where the blast took place.

The gunmen also sprayed bullets before triggering the blast, a Pakistan minister said.

The attack could be carried out by a group called Lashkar-e-Jhangvi since the CID had helped arrest six members of the group earlier this week.

However, CNN said Pakistani Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq told the network that the Taliban carried out the attack.

TV footage showed bloodied victims being taken to hospital in ambulances. The building was shown badly damaged.