By DPA
Islamabad : Two intelligence officers involved in operations against the Al Qaeda have been shot dead by gunmen in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi.
Two assailants on a motorbike opened fire on inspector Mohammed Ibrahim and sub-inspector Fazalur Rehman of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) in a busy marketplace Thursday night, English-language newspaper Dawn reported. The officers later died in hospital.
An IB official told the newspaper that the two slain officers had been active in anti-terrorist operations. They had recently received a cash award of 500,000 rupees ($8,000) each for their performance against Al Qaeda.
Pakistan’s biggest city and financial centre Karachi is believed to have a strong presence of Al Qaeda terrorists, who managed to hide themselves among the 15 million population.
Several militant attacks have taken place in the city since 2001, when, pressured by the US, Pakistan launched a crackdown on Al Qaeda. The Karachi-based Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and beheaded by Al Qaeda in February 2002.
In March 2006 a suicide bomber struck outside the US consulate, killing three Pakistanis and an American diplomat, David Foy.
On October 18, 2007, two suicide bombers blew themselves up during a failed bid on the life of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto as she returned from exile. More than 140 people were killed and 400 wounded in the attack. Bhutto died two months later in another gun and suicide attack.