File Photo. Asif Hassan—AFP
Paramilitary soldiers were guarding a mosque when attackers opened fire on them.
Unidentified gunmen killed at least three paramilitary soldiers and injured a fourth as they guarded a mosque in Karachi on Friday, officials said.
The killers, on three motorcycles, opened fire on Rangers personnel outside the Abu Hurairah mosque in Ittehad Town, a western suburb of the southern city that is infested with Taliban-linked militants.
The Rangers, as well as police, have been engaged in a three-year long anti-militant and crime operation in Karachi and come under attack by militants frequently. Officials suggested the attackers intended to target the Sunni mosque during Friday prayers.
“Perhaps the mosque and the affiliated madrassa was the target of the terrorists,” Rangers chief Maj. Gen. Bilal Akbar told media at the spot. “But our people defied them and embraced martyrdom,” he said.
In March a suicide bomber riding on a motorcycle rammed into a Rangers patrol van, killing at four soldiers. Since January, 79 policemen have been gunned down in different parts of the city.