Four heavily gunmen entered Pakistan’s stock exchange in Karachi on Monday, killing a policeman and two guards and wounding seven other people before the security forces shot them. At the main gate of the building, the assailants launched a grenade attack and opened fire.
However, the Karachi police authorities said that the attackers failed to enter the trading floor at the exchange. Many of the staff members took refuge in locked rooms, and some were evacuated, security forces are searching the nearby areas.
Baluchistan Liberation Army, also known as BLA, claimed the responsibility of the attack. In Baluchistan province of the country, ethnic Baloch groups have fought a long-running insurgency for a separate state and greater share in the resources of Pakistan.
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The country has also suffered from years of violence mostly by Islamist groups. But in recent years the attacks such as this one have become rare. The stock exchange attack followed a grenade attack by the militants, who then started shooting at the security post outside the building.
The local police authorities have said that the guards at the post fought back, killing all the four men. There are three policemen among the seven injured receiving treatment at a hospital in the provincial capital.
Officials in stock exchange also confirmed that no militants made into the building, Dawn reported. Images from the scene circulating on news channels and social media showed dead bodies of at least two men next to a large amount of heavy ammunition recovered from the militants.
As it was not clear immediately, if more militants were involved, it prompted an extensive security search by Rangers and local Police authorities. Geo News reported that most people working in the stock exchange managed to escape or hide in locked rooms. It further said that trading continued without interruption.
Karachi stock exchange is located in a high-security area along with head offices of other businesses and banks. It estimated that usually, 8,000 people work in the area, but due to coronavirus social distancing measures, the numbers were low on Monday.
BLA is one of half dozen armed resistance groups in Baluchistan and has launched a series of attacks against the state. Last year in Gwadar, BLA militants stormed the PC hotel, which is the centerpiece of the multi-billion-dollar Chinese project, and was attacked to target Chinese and other investors in the port city.
Its members also stormed the Chinese consulate in Karachi in 2018, killing four people. However, the staff inside the building remained unharmed. Most of the separatist groups oppose Beijing’s investment in the province, saying it is of little benefit for the people of the province.
Initially, the group sought independence from Pakistan, but gradually, it has turned into a violent militant group and is proscribed as a terrorist organization by the US, the UK, and Pakistan.
Baluchistan is a sparsely populated province, and the armed resistant groups, including BLA, have sanctuaries there and in south-eastern Afghanistan. The province also remains the most impoverished region in the country despite being rich in natural resources, including gas, gold, and coal reserves. Baloch nationalists have accused the central government of denying the province its due rights and decades of exploitation.
