On June 27, 2026, at least six Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) and three Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) terrorists [a splinter group of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)] were killed, while four Rangers sustained injuries, after a group of terrorists attacked a Rangers Camp in the Block 5 area of Gulistan-i-Jauhar town in Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the terrorists detonated an explosive device at the facility’s main gate before attempting to breach the perimeter. Pakistan Rangers personnel killed three JuA terrorists and arrested an injured Afghan national during the ensuing operation.
The attack is significant, as it marks the first direct assault on the Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) – a Federal paramilitary law enforcement force – in nearly two and a half years. The previous such incident was reported on January 2, 2024, when motorcycle-borne unidentified assailants ambushed a Rangers vehicle in Dadu city, Dadu District, injuring two personnel. The Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army (SRA) claimed responsibility for that attack, with an unnamed spokesperson asserting that two Rangers personnel, including a Lance Naik, were killed and another three seriously injured.
Karachi’s relative calm is due to the presence of, and periodic operations by, the Pakistan Rangers (Sindh). Terrorism-related violence and fatalities in Sindh have significantly decreased and remained largely contained since 2015. This prolonged decline is widely attributed to the intensified and coordinated counter-terrorism operations executed by the Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) and provincial Police under the National Action Plan (NAP).
Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) was officially established in its current form on July 1, 1995, following the bifurcation of the unified Pakistan Rangers. The Pakistan Rangers were called in on September 4, 2013, when violence in the city was surging, with a total of 1,547 fatalities recorded in 2012. The fatalities increased further to 1,656 in 2013. In September 2013, the Federal Government under Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, in coordination with the Sindh Government, launched a sweeping targeted operation in Karachi, after the Rangers were given extended policing powers to tackle a notorious nexus of target killers, extortionists, kidnappers and militant factions. As a result, terrorism-related fatalities decreased over the years, to fall into two-digits number after 2018, recording just 49 in 2025. The deployment of the Rangers in Karachi had traditionally been extended in 90-day basis, with each extension requiring the Sindh Government to submit a requisition to the Federal Ministry of the Interior for approval. This longstanding practice changed on December 15, 2024, when the Sindh Government, for the first time, approved a one-year extension of the Rangers’ deployment in Karachi. The arrangement was subsequently renewed on December 9, 2025, with the Provincial Government granting another one-year extension.
Since its full-time deployment in 2013, the Pakistan Rangers (Sindh), has frequently been targeted by various Islamic, insurgent and sectarian groups – including TTP and JuA, as well as Baloch and Sindhudesh insurgents. Some of the earlier attacks on the Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) include:
On August 7, 2023, a Rangers trooper, Naik Dilshad, was killed in firing outside a check post in the Bahar Colony of Lyari Town in Karachi.
On June 19, 2020, four Rangers personnel were killed and another 12 sustained injuries in three separate attacks in Karachi, Larkana and Ghotki Districts.
-On June 10, 2020, three Rangers personnel were killed and another seven injured in two separate attacks in Gulistan-e-Johar Town and Malir Town, Karachi. Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army (SRA) ‘spokesman’ Sodho Sindhi claimed responsibility for the attacks.
On March 13, 2018, one Ranger was killed while another four sustained injuries in an exchange of fire with militants in the Zikri Para area of Lyari in Karachi. Five militants were also gunned down in retaliatory fire.
On April 12, 2017, two Rangers were killed during a raid to arrest AQIS terrorists from the Mawaach Goth area of Karachi.
On July 30, 2016, one Ranger was killed while 15 persons, including five Rangers, were wounded, in two back-to-back bomb explosions targeting a paramilitary forces’ vehicle on Mirokhan Road in Larkana city (Larkana District). The SRA claimed responsibility for the attack.
On November 20, 2015, four Rangers were shot dead by unidentified assailants outside Jamia Abu Hurrairah in the Ittehad Town of Karachi.
On March 20, 2015, two Rangers personnel and one woman passer-by were killed, while four persons sustained injuries in a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) suicide attack near Shadman Town, within the remit of the Sharae Noor Jehan Police Station in the North Nazimabad Town of Karachi.
On January 29, 2014, three Rangers personnel were martyred and several injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the main entrance of the Pakistan Rangers Headquarters in the Sacchal Wing of the North Nazimabad Town of Karachi.
The Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) annual performance report for 2025, released on January 3, 2026, highlighted the successful execution of 4,389 operations across the province, leading to the arrest of 2,778 suspects. These intelligence-based and targeted operations have been crucial in curbing organized crime, kidnapping for ransom, extortion, and terrorism. The force conducted 672 targeted operations specifically focusing on high-profile criminals, successfully apprehending 272 major suspects.
Despite sustained counterterrorism operations by the Pakistan Rangers, the Karachi attack demonstrates that, despite sustained operational successes, militant networks retain capacities to strike high-value security targets.
