Car Bomb Kills 42 in Karachi Pakistan, Injures 145

A massive car bomb rocked the city of Karachi, Pakistan, killing 42 people and injuring as many as 145 more. The bomb was centered around a truck parked in an area mostly populated by Shiite Muslims, who appear to be the target of the attack. According to local authorities, the truck was loaded with 150 kilograms of explosives, resulting in an explosion that damaged several nearby buildings and triggered another explosion from a pipeline. According to police reports, the bomb was detonated by a timing device that was set up in a nearby market. As of this writing, no terrorist cells or independent parties have claimed responsibility for the bombing, though the attack does fall in line with similar militant activities that have taken place in the country over the past months. Karachi, a port city, has been spared much of the violence found along Pakistan’s Western border, though the city is far from free of violence. Authorities are currently working to sift through the rubble caused by the explosion, and it is expected that the body count will rise in the coming hours. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and President Asif Ali Zardari were immediate in their condemnation of the attack.