Karachi convoy attack kills 11
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Pakistani general survives apparent assassination attempt. CNN's Ash-har Quraishi reports. (June 10)
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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Gunmen have opened fire on a military convoy in Karachi, killing 11 people and injuring several others.
Pakistani police described Thursday morning's attack as an assassination attempt on Karachi's top military officer, who survived.
Police sources said Lt. Gen. Ahsan Saleem Hayat, the top officer, was safe after the attack, but did not say if he was injured.
The dead include seven army personnel, three police officers, and one civilian, the sources said.
The Pakistani army convoy was traveling to Hayat's office in Karachi when gunmen stationed on the sides of the road opened fire. Army personnel in the convoy's last vehicle returned fire.
Later, police found a vehicle -- believed to have been used by the attackers to escape the scene -- with ammunitions, weapons, and blood on the floor.
Shortly after the gun battle, a small explosion detonated, and an explosives team defused a larger bomb found near the site of the shooting.
So far, there has been no claim of responsibility for the attack.
Sectarian violence in Karachi has been on the rise in recent weeks.
Last month, dubbed "Bloody May", a bombing at a Shiite Muslim mosque killed at least 16 worshippers and police killed three people during a violent demonstration that followed, hospital sources and police said.
A week earlier, two explosions near the residence of the American consul general in Karachi killed a police officer and wounded another 22 people, and a May 7 bombing of another Shiite mosque there killed a dozen people, wounded 90 and sparked a riot.
CNN Islamabad Bureau Chief Ash-har Quraishi and Producer Syed Mohsin Naqvi contributed to this report.