Karachi: The writ of the Lashkars

Karachi: The magnitude of the explosion that occurred during  (in) the Karachi CID building attack on 11 November 2010 was 1.3 on Richter scale, so say Pakistan TV news channels quoting the meteorological department.

Even though the chief meteorological officer termed the shock wave as ''minor'' in nature, the after-effect of the blast is likely to leave an impact of some measure on an embattled nation – and certainly on an embattled Karachi police, which, of late, had begun to make impressive headways in its effort to curb rampant violence in the city.

The Karachi police was well into the groove of hauling in criminals and militants involved in a tidal wave of 'targeted killings' that has engulfed the city for more than a year.

In this particular incident, six armed militants fought a gun battle with police guards before ramming a truck filled with 1,000kg of explosives into the local Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters, and reducing it to rubble. In the process, they killed at least 26 people and injured more than 100 others.

The building reportedly housed the CID's counter-terrorism wing, which, of late, had recorded some notable successes against militants and criminals operating with impunity in Pakistan.

It is likely that militants may have been trying to free a clutch of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leaders as well as lower level terrorists from an allied sectarian anti-Shia outfit, the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), who they believed were held in custody at the CID building.