ISLAMABAD, July 8: The federal government has sent a team of intelligence experts to Karachi to probe into Monday’s serial blasts.

The decision to send the team was taken at a meeting of security officials convened by the interior ministry.

The prime minister’s adviser on interior affairs, Rehman Malik, who presided over the meeting, asked officials to assist the Sindh government in exposing the elements behind the blasts.

He ordered Sindh Rangers and police to foil the designs of anti-state elements and terrorists.

Mr Malik termed the blasts an attempt to destabilise the government and fan ethnic violence in the city. “It is an effort by anti-state and anti-social elements to create panic, fear and insecurity in the country’s commercial hub,” a press release quoted him as saying.

An official told Dawn that the blasts in Karachi were different in nature from terrorist attacks in other parts of the country and might have been carried out to terrorise the people.

He said most of the blasts had taken place in Pukhtun localities and appeared to have been aimed at creating ethnic unrest.

In the wake of recent spate of bomb blasts, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has declared a state of high alert and advised the Sindh government to make adequate security arrangements in Karachi.

The adviser appealed to the people of Karachi to remain calm and not to play into the hands of elements trying to destabilise the city.

Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah said terrorists had used locally made devices of low intensity.

Tahir Siddiqui adds from Karachi: Seven cases have been registered against unknown culprits for Monday’s blasts.

Karachi police chief Wasim Ahmed told Dawn that some people had been taken into custody for questioning.

“The whole plan was masterminded and executed to create a rift between ethnic groups in the city,” he said.

He said the blasts occurred within a radius of three kilometres at places straddling Muhajir and Pukthun localities. “The blasts were aimed at pitching the communities against each other.”

He said a team headed by CID Deputy Inspector-General Saud Mirza had started investigations. “The team is collecting evidence,” he added.