KARACHI: A court in Karachi on Thursday granted bail to a US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent arrested for trying to board a domestic civilian flight with bullets and a knife in his luggage.

Joel Cox Eugene, confirmed by the US State Department as an FBI agent, was arrested on Sunday at the airport in the southern city of Karachi after trying to board a flight with the knife and 15 9 mm bullets in his luggage, police said.

Cox was granted bail on payment of sureties of Rs 1,000,000 ($10,000). The US citizen was also ordered to appear in court for further hearing of the case.

“The court has approved his bail application and ordered that the American will be released after depositing surety bond of one million rupees,” said senior police officer Rao Anwar.

The US citizen was later released around 6 pm from the Artillery Maidan police station in Karachi.

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Cox had appeared in court on Tuesday on charges of carrying unauthorised ammunition on a civilian flight and was remanded in custody. His equipment, including his laptop, has been sent to a forensic laboratory for testing.

A State Department spokeswoman said Washington was working closely with Pakistan to resolve Cox’s arrest.

“This individual detained is an employee of the FBI who was on a temporary duty assignment to provide routine assistance to the legal attache at the US mission," she said.

“But we are coordinating closely to resolve this manner with authorities, and we are hopeful in that regard.”