Baghdad — Gunmen stormed a police station Sunday in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, killing five police in a dawn attack, authorities said. One attacker died when police returned fire.
The assault hit a police station near the airport at Karachi, Pakistan's largest city and the frequent scene of extremist violence.
Ten gunmen entered the station and shouted, "We will not leave any police alive," Officer Abdul Khaliq Shaikh told The Associated Press.
The assailants opened fire, killing two police officers and three constables, Mr. Shaikh said.
Two of the policemen fired back, killing an attacker, he said.
The other gunmen, who had arrived in three or four vehicles, fled, Tariq Jamil, deputy inspector-general of police in Karachi, told a Pakistani television station.
Authorities had no immediate information on the motive behind the attack.
"Of course this is terrorism, but we don't know what kind yet," Mr. Shaikh said.
Karachi, a port city of 14 million, has seen a series of attacks by Islamic extremists in recent years.
On March 15, police defused a large bomb outside the U.S. consulate in Karachi minutes before it was set to explode. Police have not announced the arrests of any suspects.
In June 2002, a suicide bomber blew up a truck in front of the consulate, killing 14 Pakistanis.
In April 2002, a bomb aimed at the motorcade of Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, a vital ally in the U.S. war on terrorism, failed to detonate as he traveled through Karachi. Three Islamic militants were sentenced to 10 years in prison in that assassination attempt.
