Suicide blast kills Karachi 'super cop'

Pakistani security officials examine the site of a suicide bombing in Karachi on January 9, 2014. A Taleban suicide bomber killed one of Pakistan's best-known police commanders, famed for his fearless work tackling militants in the city. Chaudhry Asl
Pakistani security officials examine the site of a suicide bombing in Karachi on January 9, 2014. A Taleban suicide bomber killed one of Pakistan's best-known police commanders, famed for his fearless work tackling militants in the city. Chaudhry Aslam, who had survived numerous assassination attempts in the past, died along with two other officers when a bomber targeted a police convoy on an expressway in eastern Karachi. --PHOTO: AFP

KARACHI (AFP) - A suicide attacker in Karachi on Thursday killed one of Pakistan's best-known police commanders, famed for his fearless work tackling militants in the city.

Chaudhry Aslam, who had survived numerous assassination attempts in the past, died along with two other officers when a bomber targeted a police convoy on an expressway in eastern Karachi.

The sprawling port city is Pakistan's largest conurbation and economic heart but has been plagued for years by brutal ethnic, political, sectarian and Islamist violence.

The bomber smashed his vehicle into Mr Aslam's convoy and he and two other policemen were killed, Iqbal Mehmood, a senior officer with the criminal investigation department, told AFP.

Mr Aslam had been receiving threats from the Pakistani Taleban, which tried to kill him in September 2011 in a huge explosion that tore off the front of his house in a smart area of the city.

After that attack he made a defiant appearance before the media, saying: "I will give my life but I won't bow to terrorists."

Earlier on Thursday Mr Aslam had claimed the killing of three suspected members of the Pakistani Taleban in an encounter in the city.

Police are currently involved in an operation aimed at clearing Karachi of militants and hardcore criminals including hired killers, gun runners and drug peddlers.

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