Blast targeting police bus kills 9 people in southern Pakistan

Nine policemen were killed and 20 others wounded in a blast targeting a police bus in southern Pakistani city Karachi on Thursday, police said. According to police, the deadly blast struck the bus carrying 50 police personnel, completely damaging the rear portion of the targeted bus. It also damaged a police van that was giving protection to the bus and several other civilian vehicles around the area, said police. A senior police official, SSP Rao Nawaz, suspected that it was a suicide attack. Bomb disposal experts said that a suicide bomber apparently rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the police bus. The security forces immediately cordoned off the scene and additional contingents of police and rangers reached the site of the blast. The rescue teams shifted the injured to nearby Jinnah hospital where death toll is feared to rise.