KARACHI: Two men were killed and four others wounded in a bomb explosion outside Al-Mustafa mosque in the militancy-infested Orangi Town area on Thursday, officials said.

The police believed that one of the deceased was allegedly preparing the explosive or transporting it when it detonated due to some mishandling, killing him, another man and hurting four others.

The remote-controlled bomb was attached to a motorbike parked along with rickshaws outside the mosque-cum-seminary of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat in the Kati Pahari area.

“Human remains have been found at the blast site, but it did not appear to be a suicide bombing,” said additional inspector general of police Ghulam Qadir Thebo.

He said a hand grenade was also found from the spot, lending credence to the suspicion that one of the deceased was planning or transporting the bomb somewhere in the city. It was a modus operandi of terrorists they tended to throw a grenade before carrying out another powerful blast, he added.

The city police chief said the mosque belonged to the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat.

A bomb disposal squad official, Abid Farrukh, told Dawn that the bomb weighed between four and five kilograms.

Besides the motorbike, two rickshaws were parked along the wall of the mosque.

The official believed that the bomb, which contained ball bearings, was attacked to a mobile phone device.

“The deceased was present on the motorbike and, most probably, he was setting battery of the bomb when it ripped through the bike owing to some mishandling,” believed the BDS official after examining the blast site.

He said one of the deceased man was carrying a grenade in his pocket which was found at the spot and was later safely defused.

“We received two bodies of young men and four injured persons,” said additional police surgeon of the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital Dr Abdul Haq.

He said both bodies were badly damaged and the identity of the deceased could not be ascertained, he said, adding their DNA test would be carried out.

“They sustained crash injuries,” added Dr Haq.

A spokesperson of the Ahle Sunnat Wal-Jamaat Umar Muavia told Dawn that a man brought a ‘gift’ for the prayer leader (Imam) of the mosque, which belonged to their organization by saying that this was the “hide of a sacrificial animal”.

He said the Imam refused to take the gift, which the man took away and placed it outside the mosque. It was detonated 10 minutes after he left.

The ASWJ spokesman claimed that one of the deceased was a ‘Jamaadar’ (sanitary worker) of the mosque.

However, Orangi SP Sajid Sadozi said they could not confirm that the deceased was the mosque’s sanitary worker.

The wounded men were identified as 18-year-old Abdullah, Asifullah, 35, Ashraf Danish, 60, and Iqbal Esa, 40. Their condition was stated to be out of danger.

The ASWJ spokesperson said that Asifullah and Abdullah were their supporters.

Another blast

A planted improvised explosive device apparently targeting police detonated in the Sukkhan area but it did not cause any loss to human life.

Officials said two policemen, Hamza and Azam, were patrolling the Rerhi Goth road when an explosion occured but they remained unhurt.

It was a remote-controlled bomb weighing around one kilogram, the police investigators said.

The Sukkhan police believed that the intended target was the police patrol.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2014