KARACHI: Police officer Shafiq Tanoli and three others were killed in an explosion that took place near Karachi's old wholesale vegetable market on Thursday.

Three others were also reported injured in the explosion.

The explosion took place in a shop near Tanoli's residence where the inspector was seated with some of his friends.

“The blast killed police official Shafiq Tanoli and two others,” senior local police official Tanvir Ahmad Tunio told AFP.

He said there were at least five people in the shop at the time of blast, which targeted Tanoli.

Another local police official confirmed the attack and casualties.

Police official Pir Mohammad Shah said the explosion appeared to be a suicide bombing but an investigating was underway.

Shah said Tanoli, who survived several attempts on his life in the past, was targeted for his active campaigning against terrorists.

Tanoli, who had recently been suspended on charges of misconduct, appeared to have been the target of today's attack. No one has so far claimed responsibility for the explosion.

Tanoli has also been targeted several times before.

Shafiq Tanoli joined the police force in the late 1980s. He was also associated with the CID for some time and also had a role in the arrest of Arshad Pappu. Tanoli was also involved in the investigation of the Wali Khan Babar murder case and had previously escaped several attacks on his life.

He was suspended in early April for allegedly conducting an illegal raid on a house at Sea View. An inquiry was pending against Tanoli's conduct who was also named accused in three petitions.

Today’s attack comes nearly two months after some of the most shocking attacks on the city’s police force — one on the man dubbed the city's ''toughest cop,'' Chaudhry Aslam, who was killed in a bombing claimed by the Pakistani Taliban and the other a roadside bomb that killed 13 police officers.