One police razakar was killed and another was injured in a firing incident in the Northern Bypass area in Karachi on Thursday, said Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Malir Rao Anwar.

The two razakars, wearing police uniforms, were standing at a police chowki near the bypass when unidentified gunmen opened fire on them, according to the SSP.

Soon after the attack, the razakars were shifted to a hospital for treatment where one of them succumbed to his injuries. The other razakar remains in critical condition, said SSP Anwar.

A search operation for the suspects is underway and evidence is being collected.

New militant outfit behind attacks on police

A militant outfit which has recently surfaced, Ansarul Sharia Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the killing, said Counter-Terrorism Department official SSP Raja Umar Khattab.

Khattab said that the attackers threw pamphlets at the crime scene claiming the responsibility. “This was the third time that the said militant outfit had claimed such responsibility.”

Previously the same group had thrown pamphlets after killing the DSP traffic and his driver in Azizabad last Friday. Earlier in June, the gunmen had also thrown pamphlet after targeted killing of four policemen in the SITE area.

Wave of targeted attacks

Thursday's attack on police personnel is the latest in a series of assaults on law enforcers in the city in recent months.

Last week, a deputy superintendent of traffic police and his driver were shot dead in Karachi's Azizabad.

DSP Hanif was on his way to office from home when unidentified gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire on his vehicle in the Hussainabad neighbourhood of Azizabad, said SSP Central Muqadas Haider. A new terrorist group, Ansar-ul-Shariah Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the incident in pamphlets left at the site of the attack.

On July 24, assailants riding a motorbike shot dead a traffic police constable and wounded another on busy Abul Hasan Ispahani Road in the Gulshan-i-Iqbal area.

That incident, the second one in less than four days as three policemen were killed in Korangi on July 21, had left a question mark over the effectiveness of the targeted operation in Karachi and the performance of the law enforcement agencies.

Following the attack, IG A.D. Khawaja had issued new guidelines for the force across the city, directinig the policemen to follow standard operating measures during routine businesses.

He also imposed a fresh set of measures, including regular firing exercises, deployment of young policemen at public places and replacement of old fleet of vehicles with new ones.