Motorcycle bomb kills four in Karachi

A motorcycle bomb exploded on Tuesday
near the venue of a major political rally in
Pakistan's largest city Karachi, killing four
people and injuring 42 others, officials
said.
The bombing appeared to be targetted at
buses carrying supporters of the city's
dominant political party, the Muttahida
Qaumi Movement (MQM), which
organised the rally attended by
thousands of people.
"The latest report we have collected from
hospitals said that four people have been
killed and 42 are injured," provincial
health minister Saghir Ahmad told AFP,
updating the earlier toll of two dead and
25 injured.
Another health official at Karachi's Abbasi
Shaheed hospital confirmed the new toll.
"The bomb was planted in a motorcycle,"
said Asif Ijaz, a senior police official.
Imran Shokat, a police spokesman in the
southern Sindh province of which Karachi
is the capital, said the motorcycle was
parked in a congested neighbourhood
near the venue of the rally.
"Bomb disposal experts are investigating
but preliminary reports said it was a
remote-controlled bomb," Shokat told
AFP.
Karachi, the commercial capital of
Pakistan with an estimated population of
18 million, is in the grip of a long-running
wave of political and sectarian violence.
Its Arabian Sea port is used by the United
States and NATO to ship supplies to the
war in neighbouring, landlocked
Afghanistan.