A van carrying five Japanese nationals was attacked by a suicide bomber and a gunman in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi on Friday morning, killing a local security guard and injuring another guard and a bystander as well as one Japanese, according to Pakistani media, police and the Japanese government.
Dawn News TV reported that the security guard died in hospital after he was injured in the attack.
The wounded Japanese national only sustained a minor injury by broken glass, the Japanese consulate in the city said.
The five Japanese, employees of a Japanese company, were traveling from their residences in Zamzama, Clifton, an upscale community in Karachi, to their workplace in the city's export processing zone when the attack occurred, Azfar Mahesar, the police's deputy inspector general told reporters.
He said that the bomber detonated an explosive near the vehicle while his accomplice opened fire. The bomber died in the explosion and the gunman was shot dead by police.
In Tokyo, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said several Japanese were involved in the incident and that one of them was injured. The Pakistani side did not confirm that information.
The incident follows a suicide bomb attack last month in northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that killed five Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver.
