Thread: Seven killed as gunmen attack Pakistani stock exchange

Gunmen attacked the Pakistan Stock Exchange building in the city of Karachi on Monday killing two guards and a policeman before security forces killed all four of the attackers, police said.

Separatist insurgents from Balochistan province - the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) - claimed responsibility in a post on Twitter but Reuters was not able to verify the authenticity of the claim and spokesmen for the group were not available for comment.

“We locked ourselves in our offices,” Asad Javed, who works at a brokerage in the stock exchange building, which is in a high security zone that also houses the head offices of several banks, told Reuters.

Javed said he was on the ground floor when he heard gunfire and an explosion and people scattered for safety.
The police chief in Pakistan’s biggest city and financial hub, Ghulam Nabi Memon, told Reuters the gunmen attacked with grenades and guns after pulling up in a silver Corolla car.

They threw a grenade at security men posted outside the compound then opened fire on a security post. The four were killed when security forces posted there responded.

Their car was abandoned where they left it.

Two guards and a policeman were killed and seven people were wounded, Deputy inspector general of police Sharjil Kharal told media.

A counter-terrorism official told Reuters the attackers were carrying significant quantities of ammunition and grenades in backpacks.

The BLA claimed responsibility in a brief message on a Twitter account set up shortly before the raid, describing it as a “self-sacrificing” attack carried out by its Majeed brigade.

The account was suspended a short time after the attack.

Separatists have been fighting for years in resource-rich Balochistan, complaining the southwestern province’s gas and mineral wealth is unfairly exploited by Pakistan’s richer, more powerful provinces.

The BLA’s Majeed brigade also took responsibility for an attack on the Chinese consulate in Karachi in 2018. Several projects linked to China’s Belt and Road initiative are in Balochistan.

This month, three explosions on the same day claimed by a little-known separatist group killed four people including two soldiers in the southern province of Sindh, of which Karachi is capital.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange did not suspend trading during the attack. Its main KSE-100 index dropped 220 points but it later recovered and was 200 points higher at 8.30am GMT.

Islamist militants have also launched attacks in Karachi and elsewhere in Pakistan over the years but their violence has become less frequent after military operations against various factions in strongholds on the Afghan border. – Reuters

Seven killed as gunmen attack Pakistani stock exchange

Islamic terrorism, the gift that keeps on giving.

Separatist insurgents from Balochistan province - the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) - claimed responsibility

Originally Posted by English Noodles

Islamic terrorism

Keep going - you have to be right sooner or later.

Are you suggesting that they are not Islamic terrorists?

Operates on behalf of Iran and Afghanistan - Check.

Made up of islamic purists - Check.

Engages in ethnic cleansing and terrorism - Check.

Islamic terrorists - Check.

And how about the UK in the seventies and eighties...was it plagued by Catholic Terrorism?

The word 'islamic' doesn't seem to be mentioned once here... Balochistan Liberation Army - Wikipedia

In fact..

some Western observers also believe that India secretly funds the Balochistan Liberation Army

Pakistan has often accused the BLA of being an Indian proxy, and Indian consulates in Kandahar and Jalalabad, Afghanistan, for providing arms, training and financial aid to the BLA in an attempt to destabilize Pakistan.

Seems to be a solely 'Intra Pakistan' or at most an Indian / Pakistan dispute, but hey, carry on looking for the islamic boogie man under the bed if it comforts you.

There's no longer any room for the Islamic terrorist under the bed...what with the Chinese, far right wing and Russian boogie men under there already.

Originally Posted by cyrille

And how about the UK in the seventies and eighties...was it plagued by Catholic Terrorism?

Just before I left KL in March the police caught an Islamic shoplifter at BU1 mall.

4 warriors with surprise on their side managed to kill 3 people; not the brightest from any pack.

^
It's difficult to make a killing on the stock market in such a short time frame.
Stocks are more of a long term thing.

Ah yes, should've checked the technicals, like what security are we up against.

Originally Posted by panama hat

Just before I left KL in March the police caught an Islamic shoplifter at BU1 mall.

Harrods used to routinely catch Saudi women stuffing gear under their abayas despite having tens of thousands of pounds in cash on their persons.