Militant admits role in Karachi attack

A pro-Taliban militant commander has confessed to involvement in a violent deadly bomb attack that targeted a convoy of senior judicial officials in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi.

Masoom Billa, who was arrested in connection with the bomb blast in Karachi, acknowledged his complicity in the brazen attacks before a local court on Wednesday.

Judicial sources say the court has remanded the top militant in police custody at least for six days.

Billa is a senior member of a death squad of a pro-Taliban and anti-Shia terrorist group known as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ). The group has carried out several terrorist attacks across Pakistan over the past few years.

A spokesperson for the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) told Pakistan daily newspaper Dawn that the militant group was responsible for the attack in the volatile city on June 26.

Ehsanullah Ehsan added that senior judges were targeted for “anti-Taliban decisions” in recent months.

Ehsan also vowed to escalate attacks on senior judicial officials across the violence-wracked country.

The powerful bomb explosion struck the convoy of Maqbool Baqir, a senior judge at the High Court of Sindh Province, in Burns Road in Karachi. The attack occurred on the busy street in the morning rush hour.

Baqir was rushed to a nearby hospital with critical injuries, police said. The judge has a reputation for honesty and has presided over a number of anti-terrorism courts in the country.

The fatal attack left at least 12 people dead. Police officers and passers-by were among the casualties.

Karachi has experienced a fresh spate of violence and targeted killings over the past few months.

Sectarian, political and ethnic violence in Karachi has killed hundreds of people in Pakistanâ„¢s main commercial hub so far this year.

Pakistan’s top court has ordered the government law enforcement agencies to take immediate action against pro-Taliban militants in the country’s largest city.

JR/KA